Sample records for quality product-mix conference

  1. 7th Annual NASA/Contractors Conference on Quality and Productivity: "Total Quality Leadership"

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1991-01-01

    More than 750 NASA, government, contractor, and academic representatives attended the Seventh Annual NASA/Contractors Conference on Quality and Productivity on October 12-13, 1990, in Grenelefe, Florida. The panel presentations and keynote speeches revolving around the theme of 'Total Quality Leadership' provided a solid base of understanding of the importance, benefits, and principles of total quality management. The implementation of these strategies is critical if we are to effectively pursue our mission of continuous quality improvement and reliability in our products, processess, and services. The annual NASA/contractors conferences serve as catalysts for achieving success in this mission. The conference was highlighted by the announcement of the first recipients of the George M. Low Trophy: NASA's Quality and Excellence Award. My congratulations go out to all nine finalist organizations and to the two recipients of this prestigious honor: Rockwell Space Systems Division and Marotta Scientific Controls, Inc. (the first small business to achieve this honor). These organizations have demonstrated a commitment to quality that is unsurpassed in the aerospace industry. This report summarizes the presentations and is not intended to be a verbatim proceedings document. You are encouraged to contact the speakers with any requests for further information.

  2. Summary Report of the Seventh Annual NASA/Contractors Conference on Quality and Productivity: "Total Quality Leadership"

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1991-01-01

    More than 750 NASA, government, contractor, and academic representatives attended the Seventh Annual NASA/Contractors Conference on Quality and Productivity on October 12-13, 1990, in Grenelefe, Florida. The panel presentations and keynote speeches revolving around the theme of 'Total Quality Leadership" provided a solid base of understanding of the importance, benefits, and principles of total quality management. The implementation of these strategies is critical if we are to effectively pursue our mission of continuous quality improvement and reliability in our products, processes, and services. The annual NASA/contractors conferences serve as catalysts for achieving success in this mission.

  3. The Fifth Annual NASA/Contractors Conference on Quality and Productivity. Quality: A Commitment to the Future

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1989-01-01

    The report is a summary of the 5th NASA/Contractors Conference on Quality and Productivity. The theme was 'Quality - A Commitment to the Future'. The summary report highlights the key points: commitment to quality, strategic and long-range planning, quality commitment, risk management, teaming, quality measurement, creating a quality environment, contract incentives, software quality and reliability.

  4. 76 FR 57746 - Conference on the International Conference on Harmonisation Q10 Pharmaceutical Quality System: A...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-09-16

    ... ``Pharmaceutical Quality System (ICH Q10) Conference: A Practical Approach to Effective Life- Cycle Implementation... Pharmaceutical Quality System across the product life cycle according to the ICH Q10 model. These companies are...] Conference on the International Conference on Harmonisation Q10 Pharmaceutical Quality System: A Practical...

  5. Government Quality Conference Proceedings

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1992-01-01

    The Government Quality Conference was an attempt to bring together executive organizations and senior individuals in the Federal Government that have a desire to improve productivity. It was designed to provide an exchange of ideas based on experience, and to encourage individual management initiatives to tap the capabilities of Federal employees.

  6. The Eighth Annual NASA/Contractors Conference and 1991 National Symposium on Quality and Productivity: Extending the boundaries of total quality management

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Templeton, Geoffrey B. (Editor); Stewart, Lynne M. (Editor); Still, William T. (Editor)

    1992-01-01

    The Eighth Annual NASA/Contractors Conference and 1991 National Symposium on Quality and Productivity provided a forum to exchange knowledge and experiences in these areas of continuous improvement. The more than 1,100 attendees from government, industry, academia, community groups, and the international arena had a chance to learn about methods, tools, and strategies for excellence and to discuss continuous improvement strategies, successes, and failures. This event, linked via satellite to concurrent conferences hosted by the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and Martin Marietta Astronautics Group in Denver, Colorado, also explored extending the boundaries of Total Quality Management to include partnerships for quality within communities and encouraged examination, evaluation, and change to incorporate the principles of continuous improvement.

  7. Quality Improvement, Inventory Management, Lead Time Reduction and Production Scheduling in High-Mix Manufacturing Environments

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2017-01-13

    Quality Improvement, Inventory Management, Lead Time Reduction and Production Scheduling in High-mix Manufacturing Environments by Sean Daigle B.S...for the degree of Master of Engineering in Advanced Manufacturing and Design at the MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY February 2017 c... Production Scheduling in High-mix Manufacturing Environments by Sean Daigle Submitted to the Department of Mechanical Engineering on January 13, 2017, in

  8. Production of high-quality polydisperse construction mixes for additive 3D technologies.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gerasimov, M. D.; Brazhnik, Yu V.; Gorshkov, P. S.; Latyshev, S. S.

    2018-03-01

    The paper describes a new design of a mixer allowing production of high quality polydisperse powders, used in additive 3D technologies. A new principle of dry powder particle mixing is considered, implementing a possibility of a close-to-ideal distribution of such particles in common space. A mathematical model of the mixer is presented, allowing evaluating quality indicators of the produced mixture. Experimental results are shown and rational values of process parameters of the mixer are obtained.

  9. Mixing monoclonal antibody formulations using bottom-mounted mixers: impact of mechanism and design on drug product quality.

    PubMed

    Gikanga, Benson; Chen, Yufei; Stauch, Oliver B; Maa, Yuh-Fun

    2015-01-01

    Using bottom-mounted mixers, particularly those that are magnetically driven, is becoming increasingly common during the mixing process in pharmaceutical and biotechnology manufacturing because of their associated low risk of contamination, ease of use, and ability to accommodate low minimum mixing volumes. Despite these benefits, the impact of bottom-mounted mixers on biologic drug product is not yet fully understood and is scarcely reported. This study evaluated four bottom-mounted mixers to assess their impact on monoclonal antibody formulations. Changes in product quality (size variants, particles, and turbidity) and impact on process performance (sterile filtration) were evaluated after mixing. The results suggested that mixers that are designed to function with no contact between the impeller and the drive unit are the most favorable and gentle to monoclonal antibody molecules. Designs with contact or a narrow clearance tended to shear and grind the protein and resulted in high particle count in the liquid, which would subsequently foul a filter membrane during sterile filtration using a 0.22 μm pore size filter. Despite particle formation, increases in turbidity of the protein solution and protein aggregation/fragmentation were not detected. Further particle analysis indicated particles in the range of 0.2-2 μm are responsible for filter fouling. A small-scale screening model was developed using two types of magnetic stir bars mimicking the presence or absence of contact between the impeller and drive unit in the bottom-mounted mixers. The model is capable of differentiating the sensitivity of monoclonal antibody formulations to bottom-mounted mixers with a small sample size. This study fills an important gap in understanding a critical bioprocess unit operation. Mixing is an important unit operation in drug product manufacturing for compounding (dilution, pooling, homogenization, etc.). The current trend in adopting disposable bottom-mounted mixers has

  10. An approach to optimize the batch mixing process for improving the quality consistency of the products made from traditional Chinese medicines*

    PubMed Central

    Yan, Bin-jun; Qu, Hai-bin

    2013-01-01

    The efficacy of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is based on the combined effects of its constituents. Variation in chemical composition between batches of TCM has always been the deterring factor in achieving consistency in efficacy. The batch mixing process can significantly reduce the batch-to-batch quality variation in TCM extracts by mixing them in a well-designed proportion. However, reducing the quality variation without sacrificing too much of the production efficiency is one of the challenges. Accordingly, an innovative and practical batch mixing method aimed at providing acceptable efficiency for industrial production of TCM products is proposed in this work, which uses a minimum number of batches of extracts to meet the content limits. The important factors affecting the utilization ratio of the extracts (URE) were studied by simulations. The results have shown that URE was affected by the correlation between the contents of constituents, and URE decreased with the increase in the number of targets and the relative standard deviations of the contents. URE could be increased by increasing the number of storage tanks. The results have provided a reference for designing the batch mixing process. The proposed method has possible application value in reducing the quality variation in TCM and providing acceptable production efficiency simultaneously. PMID:24190450

  11. An approach to optimize the batch mixing process for improving the quality consistency of the products made from traditional Chinese medicines.

    PubMed

    Yan, Bin-jun; Qu, Hai-bin

    2013-11-01

    The efficacy of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is based on the combined effects of its constituents. Variation in chemical composition between batches of TCM has always been the deterring factor in achieving consistency in efficacy. The batch mixing process can significantly reduce the batch-to-batch quality variation in TCM extracts by mixing them in a well-designed proportion. However, reducing the quality variation without sacrificing too much of the production efficiency is one of the challenges. Accordingly, an innovative and practical batch mixing method aimed at providing acceptable efficiency for industrial production of TCM products is proposed in this work, which uses a minimum number of batches of extracts to meet the content limits. The important factors affecting the utilization ratio of the extracts (URE) were studied by simulations. The results have shown that URE was affected by the correlation between the contents of constituents, and URE decreased with the increase in the number of targets and the relative standard deviations of the contents. URE could be increased by increasing the number of storage tanks. The results have provided a reference for designing the batch mixing process. The proposed method has possible application value in reducing the quality variation in TCM and providing acceptable production efficiency simultaneously.

  12. JV Task 94 - Air Quality V: Mercury, Trace Elements, SO3, and Particulate Matter Conference

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Thomas A. Erickson

    2007-01-31

    This final report summarizes the planning, preparation, facilitation and production, and summary of the conference entitled 'Air Quality V: Mercury, Trace Elements, SO{sub 3}, and Particulate Matter,' held September 18-21, 2005, in Arlington, Virginia. The goal of the conference was to build on the discussions of the first four Air Quality Conferences, providing further opportunity for leading representatives of industry, government, research institutions, academia, and environmental organizations to discuss the key interrelationships between policy and science shaping near-term regulations and controls and to assist in moving forward on emerging issues that will lead to acceptable programs and policies to protectmore » human health, the environment, and economic growth. The conference was extremely timely, as it was the last large conference prior to publication of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's final regulations for mercury control from coal-fired utilities, and provided a forum to realistically assess the status of mercury controls in relation to the new regulations.« less

  13. International Conference on Harmonisation; guidance on Q9 Quality Risk Management; availability. Notice.

    PubMed

    2006-06-02

    The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is announcing the availability of a guidance entitled "Q9 Quality Risk Management."' The guidance was prepared under the auspices of the International Conference on Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Registration of Pharmaceuticals for Human Use (ICH). The guidance provides principles and examples of tools for quality risk management that can be applied to all aspects of pharmaceutical quality throughout the lifecycle of drug substances, drug products, and biological and biotechnological products. The guidance is intended to enable regulators and industry to make more effective and consistent risk-based decisions.

  14. Video conference quality assessment based on cooperative sensing of video and audio

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, Junxi; Chen, Jialin; Tian, Xin; Zhou, Cheng; Zhou, Zheng; Ye, Lu

    2015-12-01

    This paper presents a method to video conference quality assessment, which is based on cooperative sensing of video and audio. In this method, a proposed video quality evaluation method is used to assess the video frame quality. The video frame is divided into noise image and filtered image by the bilateral filters. It is similar to the characteristic of human visual, which could also be seen as a low-pass filtering. The audio frames are evaluated by the PEAQ algorithm. The two results are integrated to evaluate the video conference quality. A video conference database is built to test the performance of the proposed method. It could be found that the objective results correlate well with MOS. Then we can conclude that the proposed method is efficiency in assessing video conference quality.

  15. Application of color mixing for safety and quality inspection of agricultural products

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ding, Fujian; Chen, Yud-Ren; Chao, Kuanglin

    2005-11-01

    In this paper, color-mixing applications for food safety and quality was studied, including two-color mixing and three-color mixing. It was shown that the chromaticness of the visual signal resulting from two- or three-color mixing is directly related to the band ratio of light intensity at the two or three selected wavebands. An optical visual device using color mixing to implement the band ratio criterion was presented. Inspection through human vision assisted by an optical device that implements the band ratio criterion would offer flexibility and significant cost savings as compared to inspection with a multispectral machine vision system that implements the same criterion. Example applications of this optical color mixing technique were given for the inspection of chicken carcasses with various diseases and for the detection of chilling injury in cucumbers. Simulation results showed that discrimination by chromaticness that has a direct relation with band ratio can work very well with proper selection of the two or three narrow wavebands. This novel color mixing technique for visual inspection can be implemented on visual devices for a variety of applications, ranging from target detection to food safety inspection.

  16. 3rd International Conference on Turbulent Mixing and Beyond

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Abarzhi, Snezhana I.; Gauthier, Serge; Keane, Christopher J.; Niemela, Joseph J.

    2013-07-01

    1. Introduction 'Turbulent Mixing and Beyond' (TMB) is the programme established for scientists, by scientists. It is merit-based, and is shaped by requirements of academic credentials, and novelty and quality of information. The goals of this programme are to expose the generic problem of non-equilibrium turbulent processes to a wide scientific community, to promote the development of new ideas in tackling the fundamental aspects of the problem, to assist in application of novel approaches in a broad range of phenomena, in which the turbulent processes occur, and to have a potential impact on technology. The programme was founded in 2007 with the support of the international scientific community and of the US National Science Foundation, the US Air Force Office of the Scientific Research and its European Office for Research and Development in the UK, the UNESCO-IAEA International Centre for Theoretical Physics in Italy, the Commissariat l'Energie Atomique in France, the US Department of Energy and the Department of Energy National Laboratories, the Institute for Laser Engineering in Japan, and the University of Chicago in the USA. The International Conference on Turbulent Mixing and Beyond provides opportunities to bring together researchers from the areas, which include but are not limited to, fluid dynamics, plasmas, high energy density physics, astrophysics, material science, combustion, atmospheric and earth sciences, nonlinear and statistical physics, applied mathematics, probability and statistics, data processing and computations, optics and communications, and to have their attention focused on the long-standing formidable task of non-equilibrium turbulent processes. 2. Non-equilibrium turbulent processes Non-equilibrium turbulent processes play a key role in a wide variety of phenomena, ranging from astrophysical to atomistic scales, under either high or low energy density conditions. Inertial confinement and magnetic fusion, light-matter interaction and

  17. Operation quality assessment model for video conference system

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Du, Bangshi; Qi, Feng; Shao, Sujie; Wang, Ying; Li, Weijian

    2018-01-01

    Video conference system has become an important support platform for smart grid operation and management, its operation quality is gradually concerning grid enterprise. First, the evaluation indicator system covering network, business and operation maintenance aspects was established on basis of video conference system's operation statistics. Then, the operation quality assessment model combining genetic algorithm with regularized BP neural network was proposed, which outputs operation quality level of the system within a time period and provides company manager with some optimization advice. The simulation results show that the proposed evaluation model offers the advantages of fast convergence and high prediction accuracy in contrast with regularized BP neural network, and its generalization ability is superior to LM-BP neural network and Bayesian BP neural network.

  18. Annual Quality Assurance Conference Presentations by Johnathan Beck

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    25th Annual Quality Assurance Conference Presentation: Disinfectants/Disinfection Byproducts –Rules and Requirements and Presentation: Long Term 2 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule (LT2) Cryptosporidium Monitoring

  19. Pharmaceutical product development: A quality by design approach

    PubMed Central

    Pramod, Kannissery; Tahir, M. Abu; Charoo, Naseem A.; Ansari, Shahid H.; Ali, Javed

    2016-01-01

    The application of quality by design (QbD) in pharmaceutical product development is now a thrust area for the regulatory authorities and the pharmaceutical industry. International Conference on Harmonization and United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) emphasized the principles and applications of QbD in pharmaceutical development in their guidance for the industry. QbD attributes are addressed in question-based review, developed by USFDA for chemistry, manufacturing, and controls section of abbreviated new drug applications. QbD principles, when implemented, lead to a successful product development, subsequent prompt regulatory approval, reduce exhaustive validation burden, and significantly reduce post-approval changes. The key elements of QbD viz., target product quality profile, critical quality attributes, risk assessments, design space, control strategy, product lifecycle management, and continual improvement are discussed to understand the performance of dosage forms within design space. Design of experiments, risk assessment tools, and process analytical technology are also discussed for their role in QbD. This review underlines the importance of QbD in inculcating science-based approach in pharmaceutical product development. PMID:27606256

  20. Pharmaceutical product development: A quality by design approach.

    PubMed

    Pramod, Kannissery; Tahir, M Abu; Charoo, Naseem A; Ansari, Shahid H; Ali, Javed

    2016-01-01

    The application of quality by design (QbD) in pharmaceutical product development is now a thrust area for the regulatory authorities and the pharmaceutical industry. International Conference on Harmonization and United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) emphasized the principles and applications of QbD in pharmaceutical development in their guidance for the industry. QbD attributes are addressed in question-based review, developed by USFDA for chemistry, manufacturing, and controls section of abbreviated new drug applications. QbD principles, when implemented, lead to a successful product development, subsequent prompt regulatory approval, reduce exhaustive validation burden, and significantly reduce post-approval changes. The key elements of QbD viz., target product quality profile, critical quality attributes, risk assessments, design space, control strategy, product lifecycle management, and continual improvement are discussed to understand the performance of dosage forms within design space. Design of experiments, risk assessment tools, and process analytical technology are also discussed for their role in QbD. This review underlines the importance of QbD in inculcating science-based approach in pharmaceutical product development.

  1. 9 CFR 114.6 - Mixing biological products.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... 9 Animals and Animal Products 1 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Mixing biological products. 114.6... BIOLOGICAL PRODUCTS § 114.6 Mixing biological products. Each biological product, when in liquid form, shall be mixed thoroughly in a single container. During bottling operations, the product shall be...

  2. 9 CFR 114.6 - Mixing biological products.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... 9 Animals and Animal Products 1 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Mixing biological products. 114.6... BIOLOGICAL PRODUCTS § 114.6 Mixing biological products. Each biological product, when in liquid form, shall be mixed thoroughly in a single container. During bottling operations, the product shall be...

  3. 9 CFR 114.6 - Mixing biological products.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... 9 Animals and Animal Products 1 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Mixing biological products. 114.6... BIOLOGICAL PRODUCTS § 114.6 Mixing biological products. Each biological product, when in liquid form, shall be mixed thoroughly in a single container. During bottling operations, the product shall be...

  4. 9 CFR 114.6 - Mixing biological products.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... 9 Animals and Animal Products 1 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Mixing biological products. 114.6... BIOLOGICAL PRODUCTS § 114.6 Mixing biological products. Each biological product, when in liquid form, shall be mixed thoroughly in a single container. During bottling operations, the product shall be...

  5. 9 CFR 114.6 - Mixing biological products.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 9 Animals and Animal Products 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Mixing biological products. 114.6... BIOLOGICAL PRODUCTS § 114.6 Mixing biological products. Each biological product, when in liquid form, shall be mixed thoroughly in a single container. During bottling operations, the product shall be...

  6. PLC based automatic control of pasteurize mix in ice cream production

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yao, Xudong; Liang, Kai

    2013-03-01

    This paper describes the automatic control device of pasteurized mix in the ice cream production process.We design a scheme of control system using FBD program language and develop the programmer in the STEP 7-Micro/WIN software, check for any bugs before downloading into PLC .These developed devices will able to provide flexibility and accuracy to control the step of pasteurized mix. The operator just Input the duration and temperature of pasteurized mix through control panel. All the steps will finish automatically without any intervention in a preprogrammed sequence stored in programmable logic controller (PLC). With the help of this equipment we not only can control the quality of ice cream for various conditions, but also can simplify the production process. This control system is inexpensive and can be widely used in ice cream production industry.

  7. Annual Quality Assurance Conference Abstracts by Barbara Marshik

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    25th Annual Quality Assurance Conference. Abstracts: Material and Process Conditions for Successful Use of Extractive Sampling Techniques and Certification Methods Errors in the Analysis of NMHC and VOCs in CNG-Based Engine Emissions by Barbara Marshik

  8. Relation between quality and production cost for pure biodiesel bases on the mixes of raw materials

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tsanaktsidis, C. G.; Spinthiropoulos, K. G.; Guliyev, Fariz; Dimitriou, D.; Euthaltsidou, K.; Tzilantonis, G. T.

    2016-08-01

    Nowadays biodiesel has become more attractive because it is made from renewable resources. The main ingredients of industrial biodiesel are rap oil, sun oil, fat acid, olive oil cooked. In this study we verify that, the proportion of these components sets the qualitative composition and energy efficiency of the final product. Essential we link the raw materials (rap oil, sun oil, fat acid, olive oil cooked) used in the manufacture of industrial biodiesel the proportion of mixes, with the variation of physicochemical properties of biodiesel produced. According to the quantitative analysis we notice that the physiochemical properties which alter the value for example humidity, acidity, while a large number of physicochemical properties do not change their value depending on the ratio of raw materials in each mixture. The analysis of these changes seems that the presence of fat acids is negative for the quality of the mixture. From the analysis of the cost of the final mixtures that lower cost is achieved in the mixture was 10 and the highest cost was in the mixture 3. Based on a study of the cost of the mixtures can determine a basic relation between the quality and the cost of the final product.

  9. Annual Quality Assurance Conference Files by Tom Mancuso

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    25th Annual Quality Assurance Conference. Abstract: Learn about the NEW EPA Method 325b for Refinery Fence Line Monitoring and TO-17 Extended for Soil Gas by Tom Mancuso and Abstract: Success Using Alternate Carrier Gases for Volatile Methods

  10. Annual Quality Assurance Conference Presentations by Michelle Misselwitz

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    25th Annual Quality Assurance Conference. Presentations: Tools I Can’t Live Without: Speed Up Method Development and Translation, Essentials for GC and GC/MS Users; Tricks of the Trade, Keeping Your GC System Up Longer for the Analysis of Pesticides

  11. Dark-Fermentative Biological Hydrogen Production from Mixed Biowastes Using Defined Mixed Cultures.

    PubMed

    Patel, Sanjay K S; Lee, Jung-Kul; Kalia, Vipin C

    2017-06-01

    Biological hydrogen (H 2 ) production from the biowastes is widely recognized as a suitable alternative approach to utilize low cost feed instead of costly individual sugars. In the present investigation, pure and mixed biowastes were fermented by defined sets of mixed cultures for hydrolysis and H 2 production. Under batch conditions, up to 65, 67 and 70 L H 2 /kg total solids (2%, TS) were evolved from apple pomace (AP), onion peels (OP) and potato peels (PP) using a combination of hydrolytic mixed culture (MHC5) and mixed microbial cultures (MMC4 or MMC6), respectively. Among the different combinations of mixed biowastes including AP, OP, PP and pea-shells, the combination of OP and PP exhibited maximum H 2 production of 73 and 84 L/kg TS with MMC4 and MMC6, respectively. This study suggested that H 2 production can be effectively regulated by using defined sets of mixed cultures for hydrolysis and H 2 production from pure and mixed biowastes as feed even under unsterile conditions.

  12. Case mix, quality, and cost relationships in Colorado nursing homes.

    PubMed

    Schlenker, R E; Shaughessy, P W

    1984-01-01

    The analyses reported in this article assessed the cost, case mix, and quality interrelationships among Colorado nursing homes. A unique set of patient-level data was collected specifically to measure case mix and quality. Case mix was found to be strongly associated with cost, accounting for up to 45 percent of the variation in cost per patient day. The relationship between quality and cost was weaker; quality variables accounted for only about 10 percent of the cost per day variation. Case mix was also associated with several facility characteristics found to be significant in other cost studies, suggesting that such facility characteristics serve as partial proxy measures for case mix. The cost-case mix relationships appear to be strong enough to justify incorporating case mix directly in nursing home reimbursement systems. In contrast, the weaker cost-quality association implies that it may not (yet) be appropriate to incorporate quality directly in reimbursement.

  13. 21 CFR 163.145 - Mixed dairy product chocolates.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-04-01

    ... 21 Food and Drugs 2 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Mixed dairy product chocolates. 163.145 Section... § 163.145 Mixed dairy product chocolates. (a) Description. Mixed dairy product chocolates are the foods...; or (iv) Malted milk; and (2) The finished mixed dairy product chocolates shall contain not less than...

  14. 21 CFR 163.145 - Mixed dairy product chocolates.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-04-01

    ... 21 Food and Drugs 2 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Mixed dairy product chocolates. 163.145 Section... § 163.145 Mixed dairy product chocolates. (a) Description. Mixed dairy product chocolates are the foods...; or (iv) Malted milk; and (2) The finished mixed dairy product chocolates shall contain not less than...

  15. 21 CFR 163.145 - Mixed dairy product chocolates.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-04-01

    ... 21 Food and Drugs 2 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Mixed dairy product chocolates. 163.145 Section... § 163.145 Mixed dairy product chocolates. (a) Description. Mixed dairy product chocolates are the foods...; or (iv) Malted milk; and (2) The finished mixed dairy product chocolates shall contain not less than...

  16. 21 CFR 163.145 - Mixed dairy product chocolates.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-04-01

    ... 21 Food and Drugs 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Mixed dairy product chocolates. 163.145 Section... § 163.145 Mixed dairy product chocolates. (a) Description. Mixed dairy product chocolates are the foods...; or (iv) Malted milk; and (2) The finished mixed dairy product chocolates shall contain not less than...

  17. Quality and Safety Aspects of Cereals (Wheat) and Their Products.

    PubMed

    Varzakas, Theo

    2016-11-17

    Cereals and, most specifically, wheat are described in this chapter highlighting on their safety and quality aspects. Moreover, wheat quality aspects are adequately addressed since they are used to characterize dough properties and baking quality. Determination of dough properties is also mentioned and pasta quality is also described in this chapter. Chemometrics-multivariate analysis is one of the analyses carried out. Regarding production weighing/mixing of flours, kneading, extruded wheat flours, and sodium chloride are important processing steps/raw materials used in the manufacturing of pastry products. Staling of cereal-based products is also taken into account. Finally, safety aspects of cereal-based products are well documented with special emphasis on mycotoxins, acrylamide, and near infrared methodology.

  18. Conference Report: ESF-COST High-Level Research Conference Natural Products Chemistry, Biology and Medicine III.

    PubMed

    Catino, Arthur

    2010-12-01

    Natural Products Chemistry, Biology and Medicine III was the third conference in a series of events sponsored by the European Science Foundation (ESF) and the European Cooperation in the field of Scientific and Technical Research (COST). Scientists came together from within and outside the EU to present cutting-edge developments in chemical synthesis. Research areas included the synthesis of natural products, methods development, isolation/structural elucidation and chemical biology. As our capacity to produce new chemotherapeutic agents relies on chemical synthesis, this year's conference has never been so timely. This report highlights several of the scientific contributions presented during the meeting.

  19. Acetic Acid Bacteria and the Production and Quality of Wine Vinegar

    PubMed Central

    Torija, María Jesús; García-Parrilla, María del Carmen; Troncoso, Ana María

    2014-01-01

    The production of vinegar depends on an oxidation process that is mainly performed by acetic acid bacteria. Despite the different methods of vinegar production (more or less designated as either “fast” or “traditional”), the use of pure starter cultures remains far from being a reality. Uncontrolled mixed cultures are normally used, but this review proposes the use of controlled mixed cultures. The acetic acid bacteria species determine the quality of vinegar, although the final quality is a combined result of technological process, wood contact, and aging. This discussion centers on wine vinegar and evaluates the effects of these different processes on its chemical and sensory properties. PMID:24574887

  20. Piloting Vertical Flight Aircraft: A Conference on Flying Qualities and Human Factors

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Blanken, Christopher L. (Editor); Whalley, Matthew S. (Editor)

    1993-01-01

    This document contains papers from a specialists' meeting entitled 'Piloting Vertical Flight Aircraft: A Conference on Flying Qualities and Human Factors.' Vertical flight aircraft, including helicopters and a variety of Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) concepts, place unique requirements on human perception, control, and performance for the conduct of their design missions. The intent of this conference was to examine, for these vehicles, advances in: (1) design of flight control systems for ADS-33C standards; (2) assessment of human factors influences of cockpit displays and operational procedures; (3) development of VTOL design and operational criteria; and (4) development of theoretical methods or models for predicting pilot/vehicle performance and mission suitability. A secondary goal of the conference was to provide an initial venue for enhanced interaction between human factors and handling qualities specialists.

  1. RUNNING A CONFERENCE AS A CLEAN PRODUCT

    EPA Science Inventory

    More than 1000 attended the International Conference on Pollution Prevention: Clean Technologies and Clean Products, held in Washington, DC, June 10-13, 1990. With support from the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy, and the International Association for Clean Techn...

  2. Blood profile and meat quality of Holstein-Friesian steers finished on total mixed ration or flaxseed oil-supplemented pellet mixed with reed canary grass haylage.

    PubMed

    Utama, D T; Lee, S G; Baek, K H; Chung, W S; Chung, I A; Kim, D I; Kim, G Y; Lee, S K

    2018-02-01

    Holstein-Friesian steer beef production is renowned globally as a secondary product of the milk industry. Grass feeding is a common practice in raising Holstein steers because of its low cost. Furthermore, grass feeding is an alternative way to produce beef with a balanced n-6 to n-3 fatty acids (FAs) ratio. However, the performance and meat quality of Holstein-Friesian cattle is more likely to depend on a high-quality diet. The aim of this study was to observe whether feeding two mixed diets; a corn-based total mixed ration (TMR) with winter ryegrass (Lolium perenne) or flaxseed oil-supplemented pellets with reed canary grass haylage (n-3 mix) provided benefits on carcass weight, meat quality and FA composition compared with cattle fed with reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea) haylage alone. In all, 15 21-month-old Holstein-Friesian steers were randomly assigned to three group pens, were allowed free access to water and were fed different experimental diets for 150 days. Blood samples were taken a week before slaughter. Carcass weight and meat quality were evaluated after slaughter. Plasma lipid levels and aspartate aminotransferase (AST), γ-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT), creatine kinase (CK) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activities were determined. Diet did not affect plasma triglyceride levels and GGT activity. Plasma cholesterol levels, including low-density and high-density lipoproteins, were higher in both mixed-diet groups than in the haylae group. The highest activities of plasma AST, CK and ALP were observed in the haylage group, followed by n-3 mix and TMR groups, respectively. Carcass weight was lower in the haylage group than in the other groups and no differences were found between the TMR and n-3 mix groups. Although the n-3 mix-fed and haylage-fed beef provided lower n-6 to n-3 FAs ratio than TMR-fed beef, the roasted beef obtained from the TMR group was more acceptable with better overall meat physicochemical properties and sensory scores

  3. International Annual Conference (29th) of ICT Held in Karlsruhe, Federal Republic of Germany on June 30-July 3, 1998. Energetic Materials; Production, Processing and Characterization

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1998-06-26

    The Final Proceedings for 29th International Annual Conference of ICT, 30 June 1998 - 3 July 1998. This is an interdisciplinary conference. Topics...include: (1) Components; (2) Particle Technology; (3) Synthesis, Production and Processing; (4) Characterization of Energetic Materials; (5) Safety Technology; and (6) Quality Assurance and Environmental Aspects.

  4. 76 FR 25358 - 2011 Parenteral Drug Association/Food and Drug Administration Glass Quality Conference; Public...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-05-04

    ... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Food and Drug Administration [Docket No. FDA-2011-N-0002] 2011 Parenteral Drug Association/Food and Drug Administration Glass Quality Conference; Public Conference AGENCY: Food and Drug Administration, HHS. ACTION: Notice of public conference. SUMMARY: The Food...

  5. Total Quality Leadership

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1991-01-01

    More than 750 NASA, government, contractor, and academic representatives attended the Seventh Annual NASA/Contractors Conference on Quality and Productivity. The panel presentations and Keynote speeches revolving around the theme of total quality leadership provided a solid base of understanding of the importance, benefits, and principles of total quality management (TQM). The presentations from the conference are summarized.

  6. 76 FR 1137 - Publicly Available Consumer Product Safety Information Database: Notice of Public Web Conferences

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-01-07

    ...: Notice of Public Web Conferences AGENCY: Consumer Product Safety Commission. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: The Consumer Product Safety Commission (``Commission,'' ``CPSC,'' or ``we'') is announcing two Web conferences... database (``Database''). The Web conferences will be webcast live from the Commission's headquarters in...

  7. Annual Quality Assurance Conference Presentations by Glynda Smith and Carrie Miller

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    25th Annual Quality Assurance Conference Presentation: Disinfectants/Disinfection Byproducts –Rules and Requirements and Presentation: Long Term 2 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule (LT2) Cryptosporidium Monitoring

  8. Teacher's Conceptions of Quality in Dance Education Expressed through Grade Conferences

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Andersson, Ninnie

    2016-01-01

    The aim of the study is to illuminate a teacher's conceptions of quality expressed through verbal and non-verbal actions in relation to summative assessments of dance knowledge. The following research questions are considered in the study: What conceptions of quality emerge during grade conferences? In what ways do teacher's conceptions of quality…

  9. ATIA Conference Showcases Technologies for People with Disabilities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Williams, John M.

    2006-01-01

    The author of this article, a disability columnist, attended the Seventh Annual Assistive Technology Industry Association (ATIA) Conference, which was held in Orlando, Florida in January 2006. The author shares his impressions from the conference, and highlights new products and innovations that will help improve quality of life for people with…

  10. Relationship factors and quality among mixed-orientation couples.

    PubMed

    Kays, Jill L; Yarhouse, Mark A; Ripley, Jennifer S

    2014-01-01

    Mixed-orientation couples are defined as a heterosexual couple in which 1 partner experiences same-sex attraction and the other does not. Despite the fact that there is a sizable number of mixed-orientation couples in the U.S. adult population, few researchers have studied this population, and thus, there is limited understanding of these relationships. The authors examined the degree to which relationship commitment, partner-focused forgivingness, and marital values were associated with relationship quality, and how these variables predicted relationship quality. The total sample (N = 265) consisted of 2 independent samples-105 sexual minorities (i.e., the spouse who experiences same-sex attraction) and 160 heterosexual spouses. The data were not dyadic. Together, commitment, partner-focused forgivingness, and marital values accounted for roughly 43% of the variance in relationship quality. Relationship commitment was found to be the largest single predictor of relationship quality, followed by partner-focused forgivingness. Research and clinical implications are discussed. This study significantly adds to the current research base by quantitatively measuring various variables in these relationships, as well as expanding our understanding of relationship quality in mixed-orientation couples and factors that may play a role.

  11. Annual Quality Assurance Conference Files by Nicola Watson and Rui Li

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    26th Annual Quality Assurance Conference. Abstract: An Innovative Water Management Device for Online and Canister-based Thermal Desorption of Trace-level VVOCs in High Humidity Ambient Air by Nicola Watson and Rui Li

  12. Transforming the Morbidity and Mortality Conference to Promote Safety and Quality in a PICU.

    PubMed

    Cifra, Christina L; Bembea, Melania M; Fackler, James C; Miller, Marlene R

    2016-01-01

    Determine the effectiveness of a structured systems-oriented morbidity and mortality conference in improving the process of reviewing and responding to adverse events in a PICU. Prospective time series analysis before and after implementation of a systems-oriented morbidity and mortality conference. Single tertiary referral PICU in Baltimore, MD. Thirty-three patients discussed before and 31 patients after implementation of a systems-oriented morbidity and mortality conference over a total of 20 morbidity and mortality conferences, from April 2013 to March 2014. Systems-oriented morbidity and mortality conference incorporating elements of medical incident analysis. There was a significant increase in meeting attendance (mean, 12 vs 31 attendees per morbidity and mortality conference; p < 0.001) after the systems-oriented morbidity and mortality conference was instituted. There was no significant difference in the mean number of cases suggested (4.2 vs 4.6) or discussed (3.3 vs 3.1) per morbidity and mortality conference. There was also no significant difference in the mean number of adverse events identified per morbidity and mortality conference (3.4 vs 4.3). However, there was an increase in the proportion of cases discussed using a standard case review tool, but this did not reach statistical significance (27% vs 45%; p = 0.231). Nevertheless, we observed a significant increase in the mean number of quality improvement interventions suggested (2.4 vs 5.6; p < 0.001) and implemented (1.7 vs 4.4; p < 0.001) per morbidity and mortality conference. All adverse event categories identified had corresponding interventions suggested after the systems-oriented morbidity and mortality conference was instituted compared with before (80% vs 100%). Intervention-to-adverse event ratios per category were also higher (mean, 0.6 vs 1.5). A structured systems-oriented PICU morbidity and mortality conference incorporating elements of medical incident analysis improves the process

  13. [26th Conference of the Spanish Society of Quality in Healthcare: a good balance between quality, innovation, science and participation].

    PubMed

    Astier-Peña, M P; Barrasa-Villar, I; García-Mata, J R; Aranaz-Andrés, J; Enriquez-Martín, N; Vela-Marquina, M L

    2010-01-01

    The experience and learning process of preparing a scientific conference programme, organising and conducting a conference ccompletes the quality circle with the quantitative and qualitative assessment of the process and results. The transmission of this experience and learning process through this paper will improve the performance of committees of future conference venues, partners and participants and collaborators. The method for performing this evaluation is the assessment of the activities of both the scientific and organising committees of the XXVI Conference of the Spanish Society of Quality Healthcare in October 2008 in Zaragoza. The methodology evaluated the observance of the timetable and tasks assigned to the committees in the Congress Manual of the society along with the presentation of final results of the congress concerning scientific participation and overall satisfaction. There were a total of 1211 communications with a rejection rate of 9.1%. Of the total, 577 communications were presented in oral format and 544 in poster format. Aragon was the community of origin of 24% of communications. By subject areas, those of most interest were patient safety, organisational and management processes, and patient perspectives. A total of 83 participants attended 7 of the 11 workshops offered. The average attendance for each workshop was 12 people. The response rate to the assessment of workshops questionnaire was 54.2% with an average score of 4 (scale of 1 to 5). A total of 1131 people attended the conference of which 17% (193) were SECA associates. Out of a total of 1075 overall satisfaction conference questionnaires distributed there was a response rate of 9.30% (100). The scientific content was assessed with an average score of 3.6 and the organization with 3.87, both on a total score of 5 points. According to the number of abstracts received, number of conferences, level of satisfaction with the scientific program and organisation, we can conclude that

  14. Impact of Proactive Nurse Participation in ICU Family Conferences: A Mixed-Method Study.

    PubMed

    Garrouste-Orgeas, Maité; Max, Adeline; Lerin, Talia; Grégoire, Charles; Ruckly, Stéphane; Kloeckner, Martin; Brochon, Sandie; Pichot, Emmanuelle; Simons, Clara; El-Mhadri, Myriame; Bruel, Cédric; Philippart, François; Fournier, Julien; Tiercelet, Kelly; Timsit, Jean-François; Misset, Benoit

    2016-06-01

    To investigate family perceptions of having a nurse participating in family conferences and to assess the psychologic well being of the same families after ICU discharge. Mixed-method design with a qualitative study embedded in a single-center randomized study. Twelve-bed medical-surgical ICU in a 460-bed tertiary hospital. One family member for each consecutive patient who received more than 48 hours of mechanical ventilation in the ICU. Planned proactive participation of a nurse in family conferences led by a physician. In the control group, conferences were led by a physician without a nurse. Of the 172 eligible family members, 100 (60.2%) were randomized; among them, 88 underwent semistructured interviews at ICU discharge and 86 completed the Peritraumatic Dissociative Experiences Questionnaire at ICU discharge and then the Hospital Anxiety Depression Questionnaire and the Impact of Event Scale (for posttraumatic stress-related symptoms) 3 months later. The intervention and control groups were not significantly different regarding the prevalence of posttraumatic stress-related symptoms (52.3 vs 50%, respectively; p = 0.83). Anxiety and depression subscale scores were significantly lower in the intervention group. The qualitative data indicated that the families valued the principle of the conference itself. Perceptions of nurse participation clustered into four main themes: trust that ICU teamwork was effective (50/88; 56.8%), trust that care was centered on the patient (33/88; 37.5%), trust in effective dissemination of information (15/88; 17%), and trust that every effort was made to relieve anxiety in family members (12/88; 13.6%). Families valued the conferences themselves and valued the proactive participation of a nurse. These positive perceptions were associated with significant anxiety or depression subscale scores but not with changes in posttraumatic stress-related symptoms.

  15. Image quality of mixed convolution kernel in thoracic computed tomography.

    PubMed

    Neubauer, Jakob; Spira, Eva Maria; Strube, Juliane; Langer, Mathias; Voss, Christian; Kotter, Elmar

    2016-11-01

    The mixed convolution kernel alters his properties geographically according to the depicted organ structure, especially for the lung. Therefore, we compared the image quality of the mixed convolution kernel to standard soft and hard kernel reconstructions for different organ structures in thoracic computed tomography (CT) images.Our Ethics Committee approved this prospective study. In total, 31 patients who underwent contrast-enhanced thoracic CT studies were included after informed consent. Axial reconstructions were performed with hard, soft, and mixed convolution kernel. Three independent and blinded observers rated the image quality according to the European Guidelines for Quality Criteria of Thoracic CT for 13 organ structures. The observers rated the depiction of the structures in all reconstructions on a 5-point Likert scale. Statistical analysis was performed with the Friedman Test and post hoc analysis with the Wilcoxon rank-sum test.Compared to the soft convolution kernel, the mixed convolution kernel was rated with a higher image quality for lung parenchyma, segmental bronchi, and the border between the pleura and the thoracic wall (P < 0.03). Compared to the hard convolution kernel, the mixed convolution kernel was rated with a higher image quality for aorta, anterior mediastinal structures, paratracheal soft tissue, hilar lymph nodes, esophagus, pleuromediastinal border, large and medium sized pulmonary vessels and abdomen (P < 0.004) but a lower image quality for trachea, segmental bronchi, lung parenchyma, and skeleton (P < 0.001).The mixed convolution kernel cannot fully substitute the standard CT reconstructions. Hard and soft convolution kernel reconstructions still seem to be mandatory for thoracic CT.

  16. Optimization of instant dalia dessert pre-mix production by using response surface methodology.

    PubMed

    Jha, Alok; Shalini, B N; Patel, Ashok Ambalal; Singh, Mithilesh; Rasane, Prasad

    2015-02-01

    Dalia, a wheat-based, particulate containing dairy dessert is popularly consumed as a breakfast food and is also considered as a health food. Though popular throughout Northern parts of the country, its limited shelf-life even under refrigeration imposes severe restrictions on its organized manufacture and marketing. In order to promote dalia dessert as a marketable product, in the present study, a process was developed for manufacture of instant dalia pre-mix, as a dry product with long shelf-life, which could be attractively packaged and easily reconstituted for consumption. During the investigation, the effect of different levels of milk solids and wheat solids was studied on dalia pre-mix quality by employing a central composite rotatable design (CCRD). The suggested formulation had 17.82 % milk solids and 2.87 % wheat solids. This formulation was found to be most appropriate for manufacture of instant dalia pre-mix with predicted sensory scores (Max. 100) of 85.35, 41.98 and 67.27 for mouthfeel, consistency and flavor, respectively; the viscosity of the product was 941.0 cp.

  17. 75 FR 2552 - NIH State-of-the-Science Conference: Enhancing Use and Quality of Colorectal Cancer Screening

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-01-15

    ... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES National Institutes of Health NIH State-of-the-Science Conference: Enhancing Use and Quality of Colorectal Cancer Screening Notice is hereby given by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) of the ``NIH State-of-the-Science Conference: Enhancing Use and Quality of Colorectal Cancer Screening'' to be held...

  18. A deterministic aggregate production planning model considering quality of products

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Madadi, Najmeh; Yew Wong, Kuan

    2013-06-01

    Aggregate Production Planning (APP) is a medium-term planning which is concerned with the lowest-cost method of production planning to meet customers' requirements and to satisfy fluctuating demand over a planning time horizon. APP problem has been studied widely since it was introduced and formulated in 1950s. However, in several conducted studies in the APP area, most of the researchers have concentrated on some common objectives such as minimization of cost, fluctuation in the number of workers, and inventory level. Specifically, maintaining quality at the desirable level as an objective while minimizing cost has not been considered in previous studies. In this study, an attempt has been made to develop a multi-objective mixed integer linear programming model that serves those companies aiming to incur the minimum level of operational cost while maintaining quality at an acceptable level. In order to obtain the solution to the multi-objective model, the Fuzzy Goal Programming approach and max-min operator of Bellman-Zadeh were applied to the model. At the final step, IBM ILOG CPLEX Optimization Studio software was used to obtain the experimental results based on the data collected from an automotive parts manufacturing company. The results show that incorporating quality in the model imposes some costs, however a trade-off should be done between the cost resulting from producing products with higher quality and the cost that the firm may incur due to customer dissatisfaction and sale losses.

  19. 78 FR 20325 - 2013 Parenteral Drug Association/Food and Drug Administration Joint Regulatory Conference...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-04-04

    ... Quality and Compliance Throughout the Product Life Cycle in a Global Regulatory Environment AGENCY: Food... Environment.'' The conference will cover current issues affecting the industry as well as explore strategies... improvement of safe and effective medical products. The conference establishes a unique forum to discuss the...

  20. Quality assesment of mie 2009 sarajevo conference presentations.

    PubMed

    Masic, Izet; Kulasin, Igor; Muhamedagic, Belma; Valjevac, Salih

    2010-01-01

    XXII European Congress of Medical Informatics (MIe 2009) took place in Sarajevo from August 30th to September 2nd 2009. Assessment of quality of papers presented at MIe 2009 was a process of observation, measurement, comparison and evaluation of the quality of orally presented papers. For this study, and for the first time since EFMI founding (1976) and MIE congresses, the authors introduced a specially created quality assessment form with five relevant paper quality variables (methodological approach, international influence, scientific content, language quality, technical features) which the first author of this article used in peer-review process of papers submitted for publication in the journal Acta Informatica Medica (as Editor-in-Chief for last 18 years). The survey was conducted on the principle of random sampling of participants of MIE 2009 Conference in Sarajevo, where specially trained interviewers (final year students of medicine and engineering at the University of Sarajevo) interviewed 33 session's chairs and 110 participants/listeners of MIE 2009 paper presentations in 33 sessions (of total 40). Data was collected, entered into a specially created database, analyzed and presented. From the total of 150 oral presentations at the MIE 2009, 110 oral presentations were graded by both chairs and participants/ listeners. Grading results were compared and we found that in 60% of cases (66 papers) session chairs gave higher ratings than other participants of the congress. The highest rating was 10, and the lowest 3. Only 3 of the papers received all four grades 10 from the session chairs. The most common grade given by chairs of the session was 8 (26.36%), followed by 7 (20%), 9 (19.32%), 6 (13.18%), 10 and 5 (7.50%), 4 (5%) and 3 (1.14%). Significant differences in quality assessment of papers done by chairs and those done by other participants/listeners are observed. This work should demonstrate the importance of introducing universal (uniform) scale for

  1. Three-color mixing for classifying agricultural products for safety and quality

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ding, Fujian; Chen, Yud-Ren; Chao, Kuanglin; Kim, Moon S.

    2006-05-01

    A three-color mixing application for food safety inspection is presented. It is shown that the chromaticness of the visual signal resulting from the three-color mixing achieved through our device is directly related to the three-band ratio of light intensity at three selected wavebands. An optical visual device using three-color mixing to implement the three-band ratio criterion is presented. Inspection through human vision assisted by an optical device that implements the three-band ratio criterion would offer flexibility and significant cost savings as compared to inspection with a multispectral machine vision system that implements the same criterion. Example applications of this optical three-color mixing technique are given for the inspection of chicken carcasses with various diseases and for apples with fecal contamination. With proper selection of the three narrow wavebands, discrimination by chromaticness that has a direct relation with the three-band ratio can work very well. In particular, compared with the previously presented two-color mixing application, the conditions of chicken carcasses were more easily identified using the three-color mixing application. The novel three-color mixing technique for visual inspection can be implemented on visual devices for a variety of applications, ranging from target detection to food safety inspection.

  2. Productivity, Quality, and Patient Satisfaction

    PubMed Central

    Fairchild, David G; McLoughlin, Karen Sax; Gharib, Soheyla; Horsky, Jan; Portnow, Michelle; Richter, James; Gagliano, Nancy; Bates, David W

    2001-01-01

    CONTEXT Although few data are available, many believe that part-time primary care physicians (PCPs) are less productive and provide lower quality care than full-time PCPs. Some insurers exclude part-time PCPs from their provider networks. OBJECTIVE To compare productivity, qualtiy of preventive care, patient satisfaction, and risk-adjusted resource utilization of part-time and full-time PCPs. DESIGN Retrospective cohort study. SETTING Boston. PARTICIPANTS PCPs affiliated with 2 academic outpatient primary care networks. MEASUREMENTS PCP productivity, patient satisfaction, resource utilization, and compliance with screening guidelines. RESULTS Part-time PCP productivity was greater than that of full-time PCPs (2.1 work relative value units (RVUs)/bookable clinical hour versus 1.3 work RVUs/bookable clinical hour, P < .01). A similar proportion of part-time PCPs (80%) and full-time PCPs (75%) met targets for mammography, Pap smears, and cholesterol screening (P = .67). After adjusting for clinical case mix, practice location, gender, board certification status, and years in practice, resource utilization of part-time PCPs ($138 [95% confidence interval (CI), $108 to $167]) was similar to that of full-time PCPs ($139 [95% CI, $108 to $170], P = .92). Patient satisfation was similar for part-time and full-time PCPs. CONCLUSIONS In these academic primary care practices, rates of patient satisfaction, compliance with screenig guidelines, and resource utilization were similar for part-time PCPs compared to full-time PCPs. Productivity per clinical hour was markedly higher for part-time PCPs are atleast as efficient as full-time PCPs and that the quality of their work is similar. PMID:11679033

  3. Quality, Social Justice and Accountability in Education Worldwide. BCES Conference Books, Volume 13. Number 1

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Popov, Nikolay, Ed.; Wolhuter, Charl, Ed.; Ermenc, Klara Skubic, Ed.; Hilton, Gillian, Ed.; Ogunleye, James, Ed.; Niemczyk, Ewelina, Ed.

    2015-01-01

    The Annual International Conference of the Bulgarian Comparative Education Society is now running in its thirteenth year. From its modest beginnings thirteen years ago, to its impressive size today, a tradition has been the production of a conference book, consistently launched on the first day of the conference each year. This year, Volume 13 of…

  4. 76 FR 50741 - 2011 Parenteral Drug Association/Food and Drug Administration Joint Public Conference; Quality...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-08-16

    ... Compliance in Today's Regulatory Enforcement Environment AGENCY: Food and Drug Administration, HHS. ACTION... Regulatory Enforcement Environment.'' The conference will span 2\\1/2\\ days and cover current issues affecting... facilitate the development and continuous improvement of safe and effective medical products. The conference...

  5. Leveraging a Redesigned Morbidity and Mortality Conference That Incorporates the Clinical and Educational Missions of Improving Quality and Patient Safety.

    PubMed

    Tad-Y, Darlene B; Pierce, Read G; Pell, Jonathan M; Stephan, Lindsie; Kneeland, Patrick P; Wald, Heidi L

    2016-09-01

    The morbidity and mortality (M&M) conference is a vital event that can affect medical education, quality improvement, and peer review in academic departments. Historically, M&M conferences have emphasized cases that highlight diagnostic uncertainty or complex management conundrums. In this report, the authors describe the development, pilot, and refinement of a systems-based M&M conference model that combines the educational and clinical missions of improving quality and patient safety in the University of Colorado Department of Medicine. In 2011, a focused taskforce completed a literature review that informed the development of a framework for the redesigned systems-based M&M conference. The new model included a restructured monthly conference, longitudinal curriculum for residents, and formal channels for interaction with clinical effectiveness departments. Each conference features an in-depth discussion of an adverse event using specific quality improvement tools. Areas for improvement and suggested action items are identified during the conference and delegated to the relevant clinical departments. The new process has enabled the review of 27 adverse events over two years. Sixty-three action items were identified, and 33 were pursued. An average of 50 to 60 individuals participate in each conference, including interprofessional and interdisciplinary colleagues. Resident and faculty feedback regarding the new format has been positive, and other departments are starting to adopt this model. A more robust process for identifying and selecting cases to discuss is needed, as is a stable, sufficient mechanism to manage the improvement initiatives that come out of each conference.

  6. Species Diversity Effects on Productivity, Persistence and Quality of Multispecies Swards in a Four-Year Experiment.

    PubMed

    Jing, Jingying; Søegaard, Karen; Cong, Wen-Feng; Eriksen, Jørgen

    2017-01-01

    Plant species diversity may benefit natural grassland productivity, but its effect in managed grassland systems is not well understood. A four-year multispecies grassland experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of species diversity-legumes and non-leguminous forbs-on productivity, persistence and sward quality under cutting or grazing regimes and with or without slurry application. Three mixtures were established- 3-mix: grass, red and white clover, 10-mix: 3-mix plus birdsfoot trefoil and six non-leguminous forbs, and 12-mix: 10-mix plus lucerne and festulolium. Species diversity increased sward production and yield persistence under cutting regime. The 12-mix had the highest yield from the second year onwards and no statistically significant yield reduction over four years, while annual yields in the 3-mix and 10-mix decreased significantly with increasing grassland age. The higher yield in the 12-mix was mainly due to the inclusion of high-yielding lucerne. The 10-mix and 12-mix had lower proportions of unsown species than the 3-mix, the difference being dependent on grassland age. Generally, the 3-mix had higher concentrations of in-vitro organic matter digestibility (IVOMD), neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and crude protein (CP), and a lower concentration of ash than the 10-mix and 12-mix. Slurry application increased annual yield production by 10% and changed the botanical composition, increasing the proportion of grass and decreasing the proportion of legumes. Compared to cutting, grazing increased forage production by 9% per cut on average and lowered legume and forb proportions in the mixtures, but yields did not differ among the three mixtures. Overall, our results suggest that species diversity increases sward productivity and persistence only under an ungrazed cutting regime. We conclude that increasing species diversity by selecting appropriate species with compatible management is key to achieving both high yields and high persistence in

  7. Mixed-methods research in pharmacy practice: recommendations for quality reporting. Part 2.

    PubMed

    Hadi, Muhammad Abdul; Alldred, David Phillip; Closs, S José; Briggs, Michelle

    2014-02-01

    This is the second of two papers that explore the use of mixed-methods research in pharmacy practice. This paper discusses the rationale, applications, limitations and challenges of conducting mixed-methods research. As with other research methods, the choice of mixed-methods should always be justified because not all research questions require a mixed-methods approach. Mixed-methods research is particularly suitable when one dataset may be inadequate in answering the research question, an explanation of initial results is required, generalizability of qualitative findings is desired or broader and deeper understanding of a research problem is necessary. Mixed-methods research has its own challenges and limitations, which should be considered carefully while designing the study. There is a need to improve the quality of reporting of mixed-methods research. A framework for reporting mixed-methods research is proposed, for researchers and reviewers, with the intention of improving its quality. Pharmacy practice research can benefit from research that uses both 'numbers' (quantitative) and 'words' (qualitative) to develop a strong evidence base to support pharmacy-led services. © 2013 Royal Pharmaceutical Society.

  8. Clinical librarian attendance at general surgery quality of care rounds (Morbidity and Mortality Conference).

    PubMed

    Greco, Elisa; Englesakis, Marina; Faulkner, Amy; Trojan, Boguslawa; Rotstein, Lorne E; Urbach, David R

    2009-09-01

    Quality of Care rounds, also known as Mortality and Morbidity conferences, are an important and time-honored forum for quality audit in clinical surgery services. The authors created a modification to their hospital's Quality of Care rounds by incorporating a clinical librarian, who assisted residents in conducting literature reviews related to clinical topics discussed during the rounds. The objective of this article is to describe the authors' experience with this intervention. The clinical librarian program has greatly improved the Quality of Care rounds by aiding in literature searches and quality of up-to-date, evidence-based presentations.

  9. International Conference on Harmonisation; guidance on Q10 Pharmaceutical Quality System; availability. Notice.

    PubMed

    2009-04-08

    The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is announcing the availability of a guidance entitled "Q10 Pharmaceutical Quality System." The guidance was prepared under the auspices of the International Conference on Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Registration of Pharmaceuticals for Human Use (ICH). The guidance describes a model for an effective quality management system for the pharmaceutical industry, referred to as the Pharmaceutical Quality System. The guidance is intended to provide a comprehensive approach to an effective pharmaceutical quality system that is based on International Organization for Standardization (ISO) concepts, includes applicable good manufacturing practice (GMP) regulations and complements ICH guidances on "Q8 Pharmaceutical Development" and "Q9 Quality Risk Management."

  10. Update on Area Production in Mixing of Supercritical Fluids

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Okongo, Nora; Bellan, Josette

    2003-01-01

    The focus of this research is on supercritical C7H16/N2 and O2/H2 mixing layers undergoing transitions to turbulence. The C7H16/N2 system serves as a simplified model of hydrocarbon/air systems in gas-turbine and diesel engines; the O2/H2 system is representative of liquid rocket engines. One goal of this research is to identify ways of controlling area production to increase disintegration of fluids and enhance combustion in such engines. As used in this research, "area production" signifies the fractional rate of change of surface area oriented perpendicular to the mass-fraction gradient of a mixing layer. In the study, a database of transitional states obtained from direct numerical simulations of the aforementioned mixing layers was analyzed to investigate global layer characteristics, phenomena in regions of high density-gradient magnitude (HDGM), irreversible entropy production and its relationship to the HDGM regions, and mechanisms leading to area production.

  11. First CLIPS Conference Proceedings, volume 1

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1990-01-01

    The first Conference of C Language Production Systems (CLIPS) hosted by the NASA-Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in August 1990 is presented. Articles included engineering applications, intelligent tutors and training, intelligent software engineering, automated knowledge acquisition, network applications, verification and validation, enhancements to CLIPS, space shuttle quality control/diagnosis applications, space shuttle and real-time applications, and medical, biological, and agricultural applications.

  12. PREFACE: Nanosafe 2008: International Conference on Safe production and use of nanomaterials

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sentein, Carole; Schuster, Frédéric; Tardif, Francois

    2009-07-01

    The first international conference on 'Safe production and use of nanomaterials': NanoSafe2008 was held on 3-7 November at the Minatec congress center located in Grenoble, France. As recognised, the rapidly developing field of nanotechnologies presents many opportunities and benefits for new materials with significantly improved properties as well as revolutionary applications in the fields of energy, environment, medicine, etc. However, the potential impact of these new materials on human health and the environment is viewed with apprehension. All the security aspects have to be solved in order to reach an acceptable level of risk. The new nano industry can only develop dynamically if these legitimate fears are satisfactory allayed. This event was organized by the French Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique (CEA) in the frame of the Integrated European project NanoSafe2 funded by the European Commission under FP6 programs. NanoSafe2008 had broad international participation from 25 countries representing the 5 continents, with registered delegates numbering over 250. The scientific program involved the presentation and discussion of 112 papers, classified as 8 plenary lectures, 65 oral and 39 posters. The conference attracted many of the best known leading scientists and specialists in almost all the different fields of expertise covering nanosafety issues: Exposure, Characterisation, Detection, Monitoring, Life cycle, Toxicology, Personal protection, Secure industrial production, Safety parameter evaluation, Standardization, Regulation and Education. In parallel with the conference an exhibition took place where 10 exhibitors presented the commercial equipment available today in relation to safety during the production or the use of nanomaterials. We believe that this conference, with the above topics, has provided a forum where the many matters of interest to the NanoSafety community have been debated. The success of the conference was such that attendees asked the

  13. The Future of the ASP Conference Series

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jensen, Joseph B.; Barnes, Jonathan; Moody, J. Ward; Szkody, Paula

    The Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP) has been publishing the proceedings of conferences in astronomy and astrophysics for more than 20 years. The ASP Conference Series (ASPCS) is widely known for its affordable and high quality printed volumes. The ASPCS is adapting to the changing market by making electronically published volumes available to subscribers around the world, including papers in the Astrophysics Data System (ADS) database, and allowing authors to post papers on e-print archives. We discuss the role of the printed book in our future plans, and how electronic publishing affects the types of products and services we offer. Recently there has been increasing pressure in the academic world for open access (electronic copies of scholarly publications made freely-available immediately after publication), and we discuss how the ASPCS is responding to the needs of the professional astronomical community, the ASP, and humanity at large. While we cannot yet provide full open access and stay in business, we are actively pursuing several initiatives to improve the quality of our product and the impact of the papers we publish.

  14. Indoor air quality (IAQ) evaluation of a Novel Tobacco Vapor (NTV) product.

    PubMed

    Ichitsubo, Hirokazu; Kotaki, Misato

    2018-02-01

    The impact of using a Novel Tobacco Vapor (NTV) product on indoor air quality (IAQ) was simulated using an environmentally-controlled chamber. Three environmental simulations were examined; two non-smoking areas (conference room and dining room) and one ventilated smoking area (smoking lounge). IAQ was evaluated by (i) measuring constituents in the mainstream NTV product emissions, (ii) and by determining classical environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) and representative air quality markers. Analysis of the mainstream emissions revealed that vapor from the NTV product is chemically simpler than cigarette smoke. ETS markers (RSP, UVPM, FPM, solanesol, nicotine, 3-ethenylpyridine), volatile organic compound (toluene), carbon monoxide, propylene glycol, glycerol, and triacetin were below the limit of detection or the limit of quantification in both the non-smoking and smoking environments after using the NTV product. The concentrations of ammonia, carbonyls (formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, and acetone), and total volatile organic compounds were the same levels found in the chamber without NTV use. There was no significant increase in the levels of formaldehyde, acetone or ammonia in exhaled breath following NTV use. In summary, under the simulations tested, the NTV product had no measurable effect on the IAQ, in either non-smoking or smoking areas. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  15. Improving the quality of healthcare for children: implementing the results of the AHSR research agenda conference.

    PubMed Central

    Halfon, N; Schuster, M; Valentine, W; McGlynn, E

    1998-01-01

    OBJECTIVE: To describe the rationale, development, content, and results of the AHSR-sponsored conference on developing a research agenda focused on improving the quality of care for children. DATA SOURCES AND METHODS: Planning documents, background papers, and conference proceedings. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The conference developed the research agenda focused on (1) monitoring the health of children; (2) evaluating the efficacy and effectiveness of health services for children; (3) assessing the quality of healthcare provided to children; (4) improving the quality of healthcare within health systems; (5) assessing the performance of community systems for children; (6) exploring the impact of different financial incentives on the provision of pediatric healthcare; and (7) developing and disseminating clinical practice guidelines and other information to physicians, families, and consumers. Specific issues and research questions in each area are also presented. Strategies for implementing the research agenda are presented and include: (1) expanding the child health services research workforce; (2) developing child healthcare quality improvement research centers; (3) conducting research in specific high-priority areas; (4) focusing research on improving the health of vulnerable populations; (5) improving child health data and collection systems at the national level; (6) developing better community health monitoring for children; (7) building and supporting research networks and a consortium of research users; and (8) developing a coordinated interagency federal effort to advance this agenda and to provide accountability for its completion. CONCLUSION: The proposed research agenda should be a national priority so that all Americans can be assured that children are receiving the best quality of care that the United States can provide. PMID:9776945

  16. Mixed-Methods Assessment of Trauma and Acute Care Surgical Quality Improvement Programs in Peru.

    PubMed

    LaGrone, Lacey N; Fuhs, Amy K; Egoavil, Eduardo Huaman; Rodriguez Castro, Manuel J A; Valderrama, Roberto; Isquith-Dicker, Leah N; Herrera-Matta, Jaime; Mock, Charles N

    2017-04-01

    Evidence for the positive impact of quality improvement (QI) programs on morbidity, mortality, patient satisfaction, and cost is strong. Data regarding the status of QI programs in low- and middle-income countries, as well as in-depth examination of barriers and facilitators to their implementation, are limited. This cross-sectional, descriptive study employed a mixed-methods design, including distribution of an anonymous quantitative survey and individual interviews with healthcare providers who participate in the care of the injured at ten large hospitals in Lima, Peru. Key areas identified for improvement in morbidity and mortality (M&M) conferences were the standardization of case selection, incorporation of evidence from the medical literature into case presentation and discussion, case documentation, and the development of a clear plan for case follow-up. The key barriers to QI program implementation were a lack of prioritization of QI, lack of sufficient human and administrative resources, lack of political support, and lack of education on QI practices. A national program that makes QI a required part of all health providers' professional training and responsibilities would effectively address a majority of identified barriers to QI programs in Peru. Specifically, the presence of basic QI elements, such as M&M conferences, should be required at hospitals that train pre-graduate physicians. Alternatively, short of this national-level organization, efforts that capitalize on local examples through apprenticeships between institutions or integration of QI into continuing medical education would be expected to build on the facilitators for QI programs that exist in Peru.

  17. Meeting report: applied biopharmaceutics and quality by design for dissolution/release specification setting: product quality for patient benefit.

    PubMed

    Selen, Arzu; Cruañes, Maria T; Müllertz, Anette; Dickinson, Paul A; Cook, Jack A; Polli, James E; Kesisoglou, Filippos; Crison, John; Johnson, Kevin C; Muirhead, Gordon T; Schofield, Timothy; Tsong, Yi

    2010-09-01

    A biopharmaceutics and Quality by Design (QbD) conference was held on June 10-12, 2009 in Rockville, Maryland, USA to provide a forum and identify approaches for enhancing product quality for patient benefit. Presentations concerned the current biopharmaceutical toolbox (i.e., in vitro, in silico, pre-clinical, in vivo, and statistical approaches), as well as case studies, and reflections on new paradigms. Plenary and breakout session discussions evaluated the current state and envisioned a future state that more effectively integrates QbD and biopharmaceutics. Breakout groups discussed the following four topics: Integrating Biopharmaceutical Assessment into the QbD Paradigm, Predictive Statistical Tools, Predictive Mechanistic Tools, and Predictive Analytical Tools. Nine priority areas, further described in this report, were identified for advancing integration of biopharmaceutics and support a more fundamentally based, integrated approach to setting product dissolution/release acceptance criteria. Collaboration among a broad range of disciplines and fostering a knowledge sharing environment that places the patient's needs as the focus of drug development, consistent with science- and risk-based spirit of QbD, were identified as key components of the path forward.

  18. An Analysis of Individual and Institutional Levels of Productivity for Reading Journals and Conferences.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hopkins, Carol J.

    A study was undertaken to portray the levels of productivity of reading professionals for the past seven years, to determine the productivity ratings of institutions based on publications in reading journals and presentations at National Reading Conferences, and to identify the most productive individuals in terms of publications in reading…

  19. What's Happening to American Labor Force and Productivity Measurements? Proceedings of a Conference Sponsored by the National Council on Employment Policy (Washington, D.C., June 17, 1982).

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Upjohn (W.E.) Inst. for Employment Research, Kalamazoo, MI.

    This volume contains four papers presented at a 1982 conference sponsored by the National Council on Employment Policy. It begins with a brief policy statement warning that labor force and productivity data systems face deterioration because of budget cuts that have forced a decline in the quality and quantity of the published information and…

  20. Interactions between Lactobacillus kefiranofaciens and Saccharomyces cerevisiae in mixed culture for kefiran production.

    PubMed

    Cheirsilp, Benjamas; Shoji, Hirofumi; Shimizu, Hiroshi; Shioya, Suteaki

    2003-01-01

    Since a positive effect on the growth and kefiran production of Lactobacillus kefiranofaciens was observed in a mixed culture with Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the elucidation of the interactions between L. kefiranofaciens and S. cerevisiae may lead to higher productivity. Hence, the microbial interaction of each strain was investigated. Apart from the positive effect of a reduction in the amount of lactic acid by S. cerevisiae, a positive effect of S. cerevisiae on the growth and kefiran production of L. kefiranofaciens in a mixed culture was observed. Various experiments were carried out to study this effect. In this study, the observed increase in capsular kefiran in a mixed culture with inactivated S. cerevisiae correlated well to that in an anaerobic mixed culture. Differences in capsular kefiran production were observed for different initial S. cerevisiae concentrations under anaerobic conditions. From these fermentation results, it was concluded that the physical contact with S. cerevisiae mainly enhanced the capsular kefiran production of L. kefiranofaciens in a mixed culture. Therefore, in an anaerobic mixed culture, this direct contact resulted in higher capsular kefiran production than that in pure culture.

  1. Perceived Friendship Quality of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder as Compared to their Peers in Mixed and Non-mixed Dyads.

    PubMed

    Petrina, Neysa; Carter, Mark; Stephenson, Jennifer; Sweller, Naomi

    2016-04-01

    There has been limited research exploring the similarity of perception of friendship quality between children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and their friends. In this study, 45 children with ASD participated together with their friends. Two levels of friendship quality congruency were investigated: reciprocity and mutuality. A high proportion of the friendships were reciprocated for both the mixed and non-mixed friendship groups. Nevertheless, students with ASD reported substantial differences in perceptions of their friendship quality as compared to their nominated friends. The findings of the present study mirrored those of previous research with typically developing children. Further study is required to systematically investigate the differences in friendship quality perceptions within friendship dyads for both typically developing children and those with ASD diagnosis.

  2. HIV quality report cards: impact of case-mix adjustment and statistical methods.

    PubMed

    Ohl, Michael E; Richardson, Kelly K; Goto, Michihiko; Vaughan-Sarrazin, Mary; Schweizer, Marin L; Perencevich, Eli N

    2014-10-15

    There will be increasing pressure to publicly report and rank the performance of healthcare systems on human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) quality measures. To inform discussion of public reporting, we evaluated the influence of case-mix adjustment when ranking individual care systems on the viral control quality measure. We used data from the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) HIV Clinical Case Registry and administrative databases to estimate case-mix adjusted viral control for 91 local systems caring for 12 368 patients. We compared results using 2 adjustment methods, the observed-to-expected estimator and the risk-standardized ratio. Overall, 10 913 patients (88.2%) achieved viral control (viral load ≤400 copies/mL). Prior to case-mix adjustment, system-level viral control ranged from 51% to 100%. Seventeen (19%) systems were labeled as low outliers (performance significantly below the overall mean) and 11 (12%) as high outliers. Adjustment for case mix (patient demographics, comorbidity, CD4 nadir, time on therapy, and income from VHA administrative databases) reduced the number of low outliers by approximately one-third, but results differed by method. The adjustment model had moderate discrimination (c statistic = 0.66), suggesting potential for unadjusted risk when using administrative data to measure case mix. Case-mix adjustment affects rankings of care systems on the viral control quality measure. Given the sensitivity of rankings to selection of case-mix adjustment methods-and potential for unadjusted risk when using variables limited to current administrative databases-the HIV care community should explore optimal methods for case-mix adjustment before moving forward with public reporting. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Infectious Diseases Society of America 2014. This work is written by (a) US Government employee(s) and is in the public domain in the US.

  3. 40 CFR 418.70 - Applicability; description of the mixed and blend fertilizer production subcategory.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... mixed and blend fertilizer production subcategory. 418.70 Section 418.70 Protection of Environment... SOURCE CATEGORY Mixed and Blend Fertilizer Production Subcategory § 418.70 Applicability; description of the mixed and blend fertilizer production subcategory. The provisions of this subpart are applicable...

  4. ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGE OF THE 1990'S PROCEEDINGS - INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON POLLUTION PREVENTION: CLEAN TECHNOLOGIES AND CLEAN PRODUCTS

    EPA Science Inventory

    The International Conference on Pollution Prevention: lean Technologies and Clean Products was held in Washington, DC, June 10-13, 1990. ith support from the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy, and the International Association for Clean Technology, this conference e...

  5. Parent, Student, and Teacher Perceptions of Student-Led Conferences and Strategies to Host Effective Student-Led Conferences

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jackson, Sharon M.

    2012-01-01

    This is a mixed-methods case study designed to examine the perceptions parents, students and teachers have about student-led conferences with the purpose of informing practices at the researcher's school as well as sharing strategies used to host effective student-led conferences. Parents and students were interviewed and surveyed. Teachers were…

  6. Quality Early Education for Quality Childhood. Proceedings of the International Conference of the World Organization for Early Childhood Education (3rd, Hong Kong, November 30 - December 1, 1996).

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    World Organization for Early Childhood (Hong Kong).

    This document contains the proceedings of a conference on early childhood education. Included are a list of the members of the executive committee of the OMEP and of the conference organizing committee, the program, the keynote addresses, abstracts, and an index of presenters. The keynote addresses were: (1) "Achieving Quality Early Care and…

  7. Ethanol production in fermentation of mixed sugars containing xylose

    DOEpatents

    Viitanen, Paul V [West Chester, PA; Mc Cutchen, Carol M [Wilmington, DE; Li,; Xu, [Newark, DE; Emptage, Mark [Wilmington, DE; Caimi, Perry G [Kennett Square, PA; Zhang, Min [Lakewood, CO; Chou, Yat-Chen [Lakewood, CO; Franden, Mary Ann [Centennial, CO

    2009-12-08

    Xylose-utilizing Z. mobilis strains were found to have improved ethanol production when grown in medium containing mixed sugars including xylose if sorbitol or mannitol was included in the medium. The effect was seen in concentrations of mixed sugars where no growth lag period occurs, as well as in higher sugars concentrations.

  8. Enhanced kefiran production by mixed culture of Lactobacillus kefiranofaciens and Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

    PubMed

    Cheirsilp, Benjamas; Shimizu, Hiroshi; Shioya, Suteaki

    2003-01-09

    In a batch mixed culture of Lactobacillus kefiranofaciens and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which could assimilate lactic acid, cell growth and kefiran production rates of L. kefiranofaciens significantly increased, compared with those in pure cultures. The kefiran production rate was 36 mg l(-1) h(-1) in the mixed culture under the anaerobic condition, which was greater than that in the pure culture (24 mg l(-1) h(-1)). Under the aerobic condition, a more intensive interaction between these two strains was observed and higher kefiran production rate (44 mg l(-1) h(-1)) was obtained compared with that under the anaerobic condition. Kefiran production was further enhanced by an addition of fresh medium in the fed-batch mixed culture. In the fed-batch mixed culture, a final kefiran concentration of 5.41 g l(-1) was achieved at 87 h, thereby attaining the highest productivity at 62 mg l(-1) h(-1). Simulation study considered the reduction of lactic acid in pure culture was performed to estimate the additional effect of coculture with S. cerevisiae. Slightly higher cell growth and kefiran production rates in the mixed culture than those expected from pure culture by simulation were observed. These results suggest that coculture of L. kefiranofaciens and S. cerevisiae not only reduces the lactic acid concentration by consumption but also stimulates cell growth and kefiran production of L. kefiranofaciens.

  9. Network-based production quality control

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kwon, Yongjin; Tseng, Bill; Chiou, Richard

    2007-09-01

    This study investigates the feasibility of remote quality control using a host of advanced automation equipment with Internet accessibility. Recent emphasis on product quality and reduction of waste stems from the dynamic, globalized and customer-driven market, which brings opportunities and threats to companies, depending on the response speed and production strategies. The current trends in industry also include a wide spread of distributed manufacturing systems, where design, production, and management facilities are geographically dispersed. This situation mandates not only the accessibility to remotely located production equipment for monitoring and control, but efficient means of responding to changing environment to counter process variations and diverse customer demands. To compete under such an environment, companies are striving to achieve 100%, sensor-based, automated inspection for zero-defect manufacturing. In this study, the Internet-based quality control scheme is referred to as "E-Quality for Manufacturing" or "EQM" for short. By its definition, EQM refers to a holistic approach to design and to embed efficient quality control functions in the context of network integrated manufacturing systems. Such system let designers located far away from the production facility to monitor, control and adjust the quality inspection processes as production design evolves.

  10. 40 CFR 721.10574 - Alkylcarboxy polyester acrylate reaction products with mixed metal oxides (generic).

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... reaction products with mixed metal oxides (generic). 721.10574 Section 721.10574 Protection of Environment... reaction products with mixed metal oxides (generic). (a) Chemical substance and significant new uses... reaction products with mixed metal oxides (PMN P-09-48) is subject to reporting under this section for the...

  11. 40 CFR 721.10574 - Alkylcarboxy polyester acrylate reaction products with mixed metal oxides (generic).

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... reaction products with mixed metal oxides (generic). 721.10574 Section 721.10574 Protection of Environment... reaction products with mixed metal oxides (generic). (a) Chemical substance and significant new uses... reaction products with mixed metal oxides (PMN P-09-48) is subject to reporting under this section for the...

  12. Improving the quality of the surgical morbidity and mortality conference: a prospective intervention study.

    PubMed

    Mitchell, Erica L; Lee, Dae Y; Arora, Sonal; Kenney-Moore, Pat; Liem, Timothy K; Landry, Gregory J; Moneta, Gregory L; Sevdalis, Nick

    2013-06-01

    Surgical morbidity and mortality conferences (M&MCs) provide surgeons with an opportunity to confront medical errors, discuss adverse events, and learn from their mistakes. Yet, no standardized format for these conferences exists. The authors hypothesized that introducing a standardized presentation format using a validated framework would improve presentation quality and educational outcomes for all attendees. Following a review of the literature and the solicitation of experts' opinions, the authors adapted a validated communication tool-the SBAR (Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendations) framework. In 2010, they then introduced this novel standardized presentation format into the surgical M&MCs at the Oregon Health & Science University. The authors assessed three outcome measures--user satisfaction, presentation quality, and education outcomes--before and after implementation of their standardized presentation format. Over the six-month study period, residents delivered 66 presentations to 197 faculty, resident, and medical student attendees. Attendees' performance on the multiple-choice questionnaires improved after the intervention, indicating an improvement in their knowledge. Presentation quality also improved significantly after the intervention, according to evaluations by trained faculty assessors. They noted specific improvements in the quality of the Background, Assessment, and Recommendation sections. The M&MC plays a pivotal role in educating residents and improving patient safety. Standardizing the M&MC presentation format using an adapted SBAR framework improved the quality of residents' presentations and attendees' educational outcomes. The authors recommend using such a standardized presentation format to enhance the educational value of M&MCs, with the goal of improving surgeons' knowledge, skills, and patient care practices.

  13. Two-color mixing for classifying agricultural products for safety and quality

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ding, Fujian; Chen, Yud-Ren; Chao, Kuanglin; Chan, Diane E.

    2006-02-01

    We show that the chromaticness of the visual signal that results from the two-color mixing achieved through an optically enhanced binocular device is directly related to the band ratio of light intensity at the two selected wavebands. A technique that implements the band-ratio criterion in a visual device by using two-color mixing is presented here. The device will allow inspectors to identify targets visually in accordance with a two-wavelength band ratio. It is a method of inspection by human vision assisted by an optical device, which offers greater flexibility and better cost savings than a multispectral machine vision system that implements the band-ratio criterion. With proper selection of the two narrow wavebands, discrimination by chromaticness that is directly related to the band ratio can work well. An example application of this technique for the inspection of carcasses chickens of afficted with various diseases is given. An optimal pair of wavelengths of 454 and 578 nm was selected to optimize differences in saturation and hue in CIE LUV color space among different types of target. Another example application, for the detection of chilling injury in cucumbers, is given, here the selected wavelength pair was 504 and 652 nm. The novel two-color mixing technique for visual inspection can be included in visual devices for various applications, ranging from target detection to food safety inspection.

  14. A new unsteady mixing model to predict NO(x) production during rapid mixing in a dual-stage combustor

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Menon, Suresh

    1992-01-01

    An advanced gas turbine engine to power supersonic transport aircraft is currently under study. In addition to high combustion efficiency requirements, environmental concerns have placed stringent restrictions on the pollutant emissions from these engines. A combustor design with the potential for minimizing pollutants such as NO(x) emissions is undergoing experimental evaluation. A major technical issue in the design of this combustor is how to rapidly mix the hot, fuel-rich primary zone product with the secondary diluent air to obtain a fuel-lean mixture for combustion in the second stage. Numerical predictions using steady-state methods cannot account for the unsteady phenomena in the mixing region. Therefore, to evaluate the effect of unsteady mixing and combustion processes, a novel unsteady mixing model is demonstrated here. This model has been used to study multispecies mixing as well as propane-air and hydrogen-air jet nonpremixed flames, and has been used to predict NO(x) production in the mixing region. Comparison with available experimental data show good agreement, thereby providing validation of the mixing model. With this demonstration, this mixing model is ready to be implemented in conjunction with steady-state prediction methods and provide an improved engineering design analysis tool.

  15. International perspectives on air quality: risk management principles for policy development--conference statement.

    PubMed

    Craig, Lorraine; Krewski, Dan; Samet, Jonathan; Shortreed, John; van Bree, Leendert; Krupnick, Alan J

    2008-01-01

    This statement is the result of discussions held at the 2005 NERAM IV Colloquium "International Perspectives on Air Quality: Risk Management Principles for Policy Development" and represents the collective views of 35 delegates, including international air quality policy analysts, academics, nongovernmental organizations, industry representatives, and decision makers from Mexico, Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Hong Kong, and The Netherlands on principles for global air quality management. The objective of the colloquium was to "establish principles for air quality management based on the identification of international best practice in air quality policy development and implementation." This statement represents the main findings of a breakout group discussion session, presentations of an international panel of speakers from Canada, the United States, Mexico, and Hong Kong and views of the delegates expressed in plenary discussions. NERAM undertook a transparent process to try to ensure that the statement would accurately reflect the conference discussions, including documenting the proceedings and inviting delegates' comments on draft versions of the statement.

  16. 78 FR 1854 - Enterprise TE Products Pipeline Company LLC; Notice of Change in Date of Settlement Conference

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-01-09

    ... Products Pipeline Company LLC; Notice of Change in Date of Settlement Conference Take notice that the informal settlement conference that was to be convened in this proceeding on January 3, 2013, will now be... Commission, 888 First Street NE., Washington, DC 20426, for the purpose of exploring the possible settlement...

  17. Water quality under increased biofuel production and future climate change and uncertainty

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Demissie, Y. K.; Yan, E.

    2015-12-01

    Over the past decade, biofuel has emerged as an important renewable energy source to supplement gasoline and reduce the associated greenhouse gas emission. Many countries, for instant, have adopted biofuel production goals to blend 10% or more of gasoline with biofuels within 10 to 20 years. However, meeting these goals requires sustainable production of biofuel feedstock which can be challenging under future change in climate and extreme weather conditions, as well as the likely impacts of biofuel feedstock production on water quality and availability. To understand this interrelationship and the combined effects of increased biofuel production and climate change on regional and local water resources, we have performed watershed hydrology and water quality analyses for the Ohio River Basin. The basin is one of the major biofuel feedstock producing region in the United States, which also currently contributes about half of the flow and one third of phosphorus and nitrogen loadings to the Mississippi River that eventually flows to the Gulf of Mexico. The analyses integrate future scenarios and climate change and biofuel development through various mixes of landuse and agricultural management changes and examine their potential impacts on regional and local hydrology, water quality, soil erosion, and agriculture productivity. The results of the study are expected to provide much needed insight about the sustainability of large-scale biofuel feedstock production under the future climate change and uncertainty, and helps to further optimize the feedstock production taking into consideration the water-use efficiency.

  18. Use of NDT equipment for construction quality control of hot mix asphalt pavements

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2006-08-01

    The focus of the study has been to evaluate the utility of seismic methods in the quality management of the hot mix asphalt layers. Procedures are presented to measure the target field moduli of hot mix asphalt (HMA) with laboratory seismic methods, ...

  19. Quality choice in a health care market: a mixed duopoly approach.

    PubMed

    Sanjo, Yasuo

    2009-05-01

    We investigate a health care market with uncertainty in a mixed duopoly, where a partially privatized public hospital competes against a private hospital in terms of quality choice. We use a simple Hotelling-type spatial competition model by incorporating mean-variance analysis and the framework of partial privatization. We show how the variance in the quality perceived by patients affects the true quality of medical care provided by hospitals. In addition, we show that a case exists in which the quality of the partially privatized hospital becomes higher than that of the private hospital when the patient's preference for quality is relatively high.

  20. 40 CFR 418.70 - Applicability; description of the mixed and blend fertilizer production subcategory.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 28 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 true Applicability; description of the mixed... SOURCE CATEGORY Mixed and Blend Fertilizer Production Subcategory § 418.70 Applicability; description of the mixed and blend fertilizer production subcategory. The provisions of this subpart are applicable...

  1. 40 CFR 418.70 - Applicability; description of the mixed and blend fertilizer production subcategory.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 29 2014-07-01 2012-07-01 true Applicability; description of the mixed... SOURCE CATEGORY Mixed and Blend Fertilizer Production Subcategory § 418.70 Applicability; description of the mixed and blend fertilizer production subcategory. The provisions of this subpart are applicable...

  2. 40 CFR 418.70 - Applicability; description of the mixed and blend fertilizer production subcategory.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 30 2013-07-01 2012-07-01 true Applicability; description of the mixed... SOURCE CATEGORY Mixed and Blend Fertilizer Production Subcategory § 418.70 Applicability; description of the mixed and blend fertilizer production subcategory. The provisions of this subpart are applicable...

  3. 40 CFR 418.70 - Applicability; description of the mixed and blend fertilizer production subcategory.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 29 2011-07-01 2009-07-01 true Applicability; description of the mixed... SOURCE CATEGORY Mixed and Blend Fertilizer Production Subcategory § 418.70 Applicability; description of the mixed and blend fertilizer production subcategory. The provisions of this subpart are applicable...

  4. Hydrogen Production by Geobacter Species and a Mixed Consortium in a Microbial Electrolysis Cell▿

    PubMed Central

    Call, Douglas F.; Wagner, Rachel C.; Logan, Bruce E.

    2009-01-01

    A hydrogen utilizing exoelectrogenic bacterium (Geobacter sulfurreducens) was compared to both a nonhydrogen oxidizer (Geobacter metallireducens) and a mixed consortium in order to compare the hydrogen production rates and hydrogen recoveries of pure and mixed cultures in microbial electrolysis cells (MECs). At an applied voltage of 0.7 V, both G. sulfurreducens and the mixed culture generated similar current densities (ca. 160 A/m3), resulting in hydrogen production rates of ca. 1.9 m3 H2/m3/day, whereas G. metallireducens exhibited lower current densities and production rates of 110 ± 7 A/m3 and 1.3 ± 0.1 m3 H2/m3/day, respectively. Before methane was detected in the mixed-culture MEC, the mixed consortium achieved the highest overall energy recovery (relative to both electricity and substrate energy inputs) of 82% ± 8% compared to G. sulfurreducens (77% ± 2%) and G. metallireducens (78% ± 5%), due to the higher coulombic efficiency of the mixed consortium. At an applied voltage of 0.4 V, methane production increased in the mixed-culture MEC and, as a result, the hydrogen recovery decreased and the overall energy recovery dropped to 38% ± 16% compared to 80% ± 5% for G. sulfurreducens and 76% ± 0% for G. metallireducens. Internal hydrogen recycling was confirmed since the mixed culture generated a stable current density of 31 ± 0 A/m3 when fed hydrogen gas, whereas G. sulfurreducens exhibited a steady decrease in current production. Community analysis suggested that G. sulfurreducens was predominant in the mixed-culture MEC (72% of clones) despite its relative absence in the mixed-culture inoculum obtained from a microbial fuel cell reactor (2% of clones). These results demonstrate that Geobacter species are capable of obtaining similar hydrogen production rates and energy recoveries as mixed cultures in an MEC and that high coulombic efficiencies in mixed culture MECs can be attributed in part to the recycling of hydrogen into current. PMID:19820150

  5. Hydrogen production by geobacter species and a mixed consortium in a microbial electrolysis cell.

    PubMed

    Call, Douglas F; Wagner, Rachel C; Logan, Bruce E

    2009-12-01

    A hydrogen utilizing exoelectrogenic bacterium (Geobacter sulfurreducens) was compared to both a nonhydrogen oxidizer (Geobacter metallireducens) and a mixed consortium in order to compare the hydrogen production rates and hydrogen recoveries of pure and mixed cultures in microbial electrolysis cells (MECs). At an applied voltage of 0.7 V, both G. sulfurreducens and the mixed culture generated similar current densities (ca. 160 A/m3), resulting in hydrogen production rates of ca. 1.9 m(3) H2/m3/day, whereas G. metallireducens exhibited lower current densities and production rates of 110 +/- 7 A/m3 and 1.3 +/- 0.1 m3 H2/m3/day, respectively. Before methane was detected in the mixed-culture MEC, the mixed consortium achieved the highest overall energy recovery (relative to both electricity and substrate energy inputs) of 82% +/- 8% compared to G. sulfurreducens (77% +/- 2%) and G. metallireducens (78% +/- 5%), due to the higher coulombic efficiency of the mixed consortium. At an applied voltage of 0.4 V, methane production increased in the mixed-culture MEC and, as a result, the hydrogen recovery decreased and the overall energy recovery dropped to 38% +/- 16% compared to 80% +/- 5% for G. sulfurreducens and 76% +/- 0% for G. metallireducens. Internal hydrogen recycling was confirmed since the mixed culture generated a stable current density of 31 +/- 0 A/m3 when fed hydrogen gas, whereas G. sulfurreducens exhibited a steady decrease in current production. Community analysis suggested that G. sulfurreducens was predominant in the mixed-culture MEC (72% of clones) despite its relative absence in the mixed-culture inoculum obtained from a microbial fuel cell reactor (2% of clones). These results demonstrate that Geobacter species are capable of obtaining similar hydrogen production rates and energy recoveries as mixed cultures in an MEC and that high coulombic efficiencies in mixed culture MECs can be attributed in part to the recycling of hydrogen into current.

  6. Microreactor-based mixing strategy suppresses product inhibition to enhance sugar yields in enzymatic hydrolysis for cellulosic biofuel production.

    PubMed

    Chakraborty, Saikat; Singh, Prasun Kumar; Paramashetti, Pawan

    2017-08-01

    A novel microreactor-based energy-efficient process of using complete convective mixing in a macroreactor till an optimal mixing time followed by no mixing in 200-400μl microreactors enhances glucose and reducing sugar yields by upto 35% and 29%, respectively, while saving 72-90% of the energy incurred on reactor mixing in the enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose. Empirical exponential relations are provided for determining the optimal mixing time, during which convective mixing in the macroreactor promotes mass transport of the cellulase enzyme to the solid Avicel substrate, while the latter phase of no mixing in the microreactor suppresses product inhibition by preventing the inhibitors (glucose and cellobiose) from homogenizing across the reactor. Sugar yield increases linearly with liquid to solid height ratio (r h ), irrespective of substrate loading and microreactor size, since large r h allows the inhibitors to diffuse in the liquid away from the solids, thus reducing product inhibition. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. Development and application of a statistical quality assessment method for dense-graded mixes.

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2004-08-01

    This report describes the development of the statistical quality assessment method and the procedure for mapping the measures obtained from the quality assessment method to a composite pay factor. The application to dense-graded mixes is demonstrated...

  8. Performance of the mixed LED light quality on the growth and energy efficiency of Arthrospira platensis.

    PubMed

    Mao, Ruixin; Guo, Shuangsheng

    2018-06-01

    The effect of mixed light quality with red, blue, and green LED lamps on the growth of Arthrospira platensis was studied, so as to lay the theoretical and technical basis for establishing a photo-bioreactor lighting system for application in space. Meanwhile, indexes, like morphology, growth rate, photosynthetic pigment compositions, energy efficiency, and main nutritional components, were measured respectively. The results showed that the blue light combined with red light could decrease the tightness of filament, and the effect of green light was opposite. The combination of blue light or green light with red light induced the filaments to get shorter in length. The 8R2B treatment could promote the growth of Arthrospira platensis significantly, and its dry weight reached 1.36 g L -1 , which was 25.93% higher than the control. What's more, 8R2B treatment had the highest contents of carbohydrate and lipid, while 8R2G was rich in protein. 8R0.5G1.5B had the highest efficiency of biomass production, which was 161.53 mg L -1  kW -1  h -1 . Therefore, the combination of red and blue light is more conducive to the growth of Arthrospira platensis, and a higher biomass production and energy utilization efficiency can be achieved simultaneously under the mixed light quality with the ratio of 8R0.5G1.5B.

  9. Nutritive value and fermentation quality of palisadegrass and stylo mixed silages.

    PubMed

    da Silva, Juliana S; Ribeiro, Karina G; Pereira, Odilon G; Mantovani, Hilário C; Cecon, Paulo R; Pereira, Rosana C; Silva, Janaina de L

    2018-01-01

    The nutritive value and fermentation quality of palisadegrass (Brachiaria brizantha cv. Xaraes) and stylo (Stylosanthes capitata × S. macrocephala cv. Campo Grande) mixed silages were evaluated. The experiment was analyzed in a factorial scheme (5 × 2) in a completely randomized design using increasing levels of stylo (0, 25, 50, 75 and 100% on a fresh matter basis) on palisadegrass silages, with and without microbial inoculants (MI). With the increased ratio of stylo in mixed silages, dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), acid detergent fiber (ADF), and lignin content increased in silages. The presence of MI promoted lower DM content, and higher neutral detergent fiber corrected for ash and protein, ADF and lignin content. The acid detergent insoluble nitrogen content and the lactic acid bacteria populations were not affected by treatments. The in vitroDM digestibility was affected by the interaction of levels of the stylo and MI. The pH, NH 3 -N/total nitrogen and butyric acid concentrations decreased with increasing levels of stylo. Better nutritive value and quality of fermentation was found in the silage containing higher proportions of this stylo mixed with palisadegrass. The microbial inoculant evaluated did not alter the nutritive value or quality of the fermentation of the silages in this experiment. © 2017 Japanese Society of Animal Science.

  10. Water Quantity and Water Quality Impacts of Intensive Woody Biomass Feedstock Production in the Southeastern US.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bitew, M. M.; Jackson, C. R.; Vache, K. B.; Griffiths, N.; Starr, G.; McDonnell, J.; Rau, B.; Younger, S. E.; Fouts, K.

    2016-12-01

    Intensively managed loblolly pine is a candidate species for biofuel feedstock production in the southeastern Coastal Plain of the United States. However, the water quantity and quality effects of high intensity, short-rotation silviculture are largely unknown. Here we evaluate the potential hydrologic and water quality impacts of biofuel-induced land use changes based on model scenarios developed using existing forest BMPs and industry wide experiences. We quantified the effect of bio-energy production scenarios on each of water the balance components by applying an integrated physically based distributed watershed modeling system, and multi-objective assessment functions that accurately describes the flow regimes, water quality, and isotopic observations from three experimental headwater watersheds of Fourmile Creek at Savannah River Site, SC. The model incorporates optimized travel times of groundwater flowpaths and flow control processes in the riparian region allowing water quality analysis of groundwater dominated watershed systems. We compared five different short rotation pine management scenarios ranging from 35 year (low intensity) to 10 year (high intensity) rotations and a mixture of forestry and agriculture/pasture production practices. Simulation results, based on long-term climate records, revealed that complete conversion to short-rotation woody crops would have a negligible effect on water budget components; <2% decrease in streamflow, <1.5% increase in actual evapotranspiration, an average 0.5 m fall in the groundwater table, and no change in subsurface flow due to biofuel production. Simulation results of mixed 50% agriculture and pasture and 50% short-rotation woody crops showed the largest deviation in water budget components compared to the reference condition. Analysis of extreme stream flows showed that the largest effect was observed in the low intensity mixed land use scenario. The smallest effect was in the low intensity biomass

  11. Tweets about hospital quality: a mixed methods study

    PubMed Central

    Greaves, Felix; Laverty, Antony A; Cano, Daniel Ramirez; Moilanen, Karo; Pulman, Stephen; Darzi, Ara; Millett, Christopher

    2014-01-01

    Background Twitter is increasingly being used by patients to comment on their experience of healthcare. This may provide information for understanding the quality of healthcare providers and improving services. Objective To examine whether tweets sent to hospitals in the English National Health Service contain information about quality of care. To compare sentiment on Twitter about hospitals with established survey measures of patient experience and standardised mortality rates. Design A mixed methods study including a quantitative analysis of all 198 499 tweets sent to English hospitals over a year and a qualitative directed content analysis of 1000 random tweets. Twitter sentiment and conventional quality metrics were compared using Spearman's rank correlation coefficient. Key results 11% of tweets to hospitals contained information about care quality, with the most frequent topic being patient experience (8%). Comments on effectiveness or safety of care were present, but less common (3%). 77% of tweets about care quality were positive in tone. Other topics mentioned in tweets included messages of support to patients, fundraising activity, self-promotion and dissemination of health information. No associations were observed between Twitter sentiment and conventional quality metrics. Conclusions Only a small proportion of tweets directed at hospitals discuss quality of care and there was no clear relationship between Twitter sentiment and other measures of quality, potentially limiting Twitter as a medium for quality monitoring. However, tweets did contain information useful to target quality improvement activity. Recent enthusiasm by policy makers to use social media as a quality monitoring and improvement tool needs to be carefully considered and subjected to formal evaluation. PMID:24748372

  12. 78 FR 718 - Enterprise TE Products Pipeline Company LLC; Notice of Settlement Conference

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-01-04

    ... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [ Docket No. IS12-203-000] Enterprise TE Products Pipeline Company LLC; Notice of Settlement Conference Take notice that an informal settlement... of exploring the possible settlement of the above-referenced dockets. Any party, as defined by 18 CFR...

  13. 2014 Global Conference on Polymer and Composite Materials (PCM 2014)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    2014-08-01

    The 2014 Global Conference on Polymer and Composite Materials (PCM 2014) sponsored by Ningbo Adhesives and Products Industry Association, Shanghai Bonding Technology Association, Zhejiang Bonding Technology Association, Wuhan Bonding Technology Association, Hebei Bonding and Coatings Association and Polyurethane Industry Association was held from May 27 to May 29 2014 in Ningbo, China. The technical program consisted of 8 international keynote speakers, oral presentations, and a poster session. The conference also included an industrial exhibition where more than 50 companies displayed in their booths their most recent advanced products and services. The present issue of IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) records the proceedings of PCM 2014 and contains 37 specially selected manuscripts submitted to PCM2014 conference. The electronic submission and handling of manuscripts via the conference website, including the selection of reviewers and evaluation of manuscripts, were identical to the procedures applied to manuscripts submitted as regular contributions for publication. The organization of this conference and the preparation of proceedings volumes would have been impossible without the tremendous efforts and dedication of many individuals, especially from Ms. Yin Pan, who oversaw the organization of the conference and the program; and a large team of reviewers with their timely submission of quality reports. We express our sincere thanks to all authors and presenters for their contributions. We also thank very much our sponsors for their generous support. The 2015 Global Conference on Polymer and Composite Materials (PCM2015) will be held in Beijing, China on May 16-18, 2015. Beijing, the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, will welcome to all participants for a renewed and vibrant conference. Prof. Dr. Esteban Broitman Linköping University, Sweden Editor in Chief — PCM2014

  14. Teacher Perceptions of Principals' Leadership Qualities: A Mixed Methods Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hauserman, Cal P.; Ivankova, Nataliya V.; Stick, Sheldon L.

    2013-01-01

    This mixed methods sequential explanatory study utilized the Multi-factor Leadership Questionnaire, responses to open-ended questions, and in-depth interviews to identify transformational leadership qualities that were present among principals in Alberta, Canada. The first quantitative phase consisted of a random sample of 135 schools (with…

  15. Lactic acid production from submerged fermentation of broken rice using undefined mixed culture.

    PubMed

    Nunes, Luiza Varela; de Barros Correa, Fabiane Fernanda; de Oliva Neto, Pedro; Mayer, Cassia Roberta Malacrida; Escaramboni, Bruna; Campioni, Tania Sila; de Barros, Natan Roberto; Herculano, Rondinelli Donizetti; Fernández Núñez, Eutimio Gustavo

    2017-04-01

    The present work aimed to characterize and optimize the submerged fermentation of broken rice for lactic acid (LA) production using undefined mixed culture from dewatered activated sludge. A microorganism with amylolytic activity, which also produces LA, Lactobacillus amylovorus, was used as a control to assess the extent of mixed culture on LA yield. Three level full factorial designs were performed to optimize and define the influence of fermentation temperature (20-50 °C), gelatinization time (30-60 min) and broken rice concentration in culture medium (40-80 g L -1 ) on LA production in pure and undefined mixed culture. LA production in mixed culture (9.76 g L -1 ) increased in sixfold respect to pure culture in optimal assessed experimental conditions. The optimal conditions for maximizing LA yield in mixed culture bioprocess were 31 °C temperature, 45 min gelatinization time and 79 g L -1 broken rice concentration in culture medium. This study demonstrated the positive effect of undefined mixed culture from dewatered activated sludge to produce LA from culture medium formulated with broken rice. In addition, this work establishes the basis for an efficient and low-cost bioprocess to manufacture LA from this booming agro-industrial by-product.

  16. Conference presentation to publication: a retrospective study evaluating quality of abstracts and journal articles in medical education research.

    PubMed

    Stephenson, Christopher R; Vaa, Brianna E; Wang, Amy T; Schroeder, Darrell R; Beckman, Thomas J; Reed, Darcy A; Sawatsky, Adam P

    2017-11-09

    There is little evidence regarding the comparative quality of abstracts and articles in medical education research. The Medical Education Research Study Quality Instrument (MERSQI), which was developed to evaluate the quality of reporting in medical education, has strong validity evidence for content, internal structure, and relationships to other variables. We used the MERSQI to compare the quality of reporting for conference abstracts, journal abstracts, and published articles. This is a retrospective study of all 46 medical education research abstracts submitted to the Society of General Internal Medicine 2009 Annual Meeting that were subsequently published in a peer-reviewed journal. We compared MERSQI scores of the abstracts with scores for their corresponding published journal abstracts and articles. Comparisons were performed using the signed rank test. Overall MERSQI scores increased significantly for published articles compared with conference abstracts (11.33 vs 9.67; P < .001) and journal abstracts (11.33 vs 9.96; P < .001). Regarding MERSQI subscales, published articles had higher MERSQI scores than conference abstracts in the domains of sampling (1.59 vs 1.34; P = .006), data analysis (3.00 vs 2.43; P < .001), and validity of evaluation instrument (1.04 vs 0.28; P < .001). Published articles also had higher MERSQI scores than journal abstracts in the domains of data analysis (3.00 vs 2.70; P = .004) and validity of evaluation instrument (1.04 vs 0.26; P < .001). To our knowledge, this is the first study to compare the quality of medical education abstracts and journal articles using the MERSQI. Overall, the quality of articles was greater than that of abstracts. However, there were no significant differences between abstracts and articles for the domains of study design and outcomes, which indicates that these MERSQI elements may be applicable to abstracts. Findings also suggest that abstract quality is generally preserved

  17. Defining a Quality Education. Proceedings of the Annual Conference of the North East Association for Institutional Research (19th, Washington, D.C., November 14-17, 1992).

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Price, Jane, Ed.

    This publication contains 25 papers from a conference on defining quality higher education. Opening sections cover the conference program and members of the conference's steering committee. A representative sampling of papers includes the following: "The College Student Experiences Questionnaire: A Follow-Up Study of Academic and Social…

  18. PREFACE: Turbulent Mixing and Beyond Turbulent Mixing and Beyond

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Abarzhi, Snezhana I.; Gauthier, Serge; Rosner, Robert

    2008-10-01

    mixing dynamics are interplayed with fundamental properties of the Euler and compressible Navier-Stokes equations, with the problem sensitivity to the initial conditions and to the boundary conditions at the discontinuities, and with its stochastic description. The state-of-the-art numerical simulations of the multi-phase non-equilibrium dynamics suggest new methods for capturing discontinuities and singularities and shock-interface interaction, for predictive modeling of the multi-scale dynamics in fluids and plasmas, for error estimate and uncertainty quantification as well as for novel data assimilation techniques. The First International Conference `Turbulent Mixing and Beyond' (TMB-2007), was held on 18-26 August 2007 at the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste, Italy. This was a highly informative and exciting meeting, by all the standards a major success. The Conference brought together 120 participants (307 authors) from five continents, ranging from students to members of National Academies of Sciences and Engineering and including researchers from the Universities, National Laboratories, Leading Scientific Institutions and Industry. TMB-2007 covered 16 different topics, maintaining the scope and the interdisciplinary character of the meeting, and kept the focus on a fundamental fluid dynamic problem of unsteady turbulent processes and the Conference Objectives. The success of the TMB-07 was a result of the successful work of all the participants, who were serious and professional people, caring for the quality of their research and sharing their scientific vision. The level of presentations was high, and the presentations included 87 oral contributions, 32 invited lectures and 5 tutorials and over 30 poster contributions. The round table discussions held at TMB-2007 investigated the organization of a Collaborative Computing Environment for the Turbulent Mixing and Beyond Community. The abstracts of the 150 accepted Conference

  19. Production and supply of high-quality food protein for human consumption: sustainability, challenges, and innovations.

    PubMed

    Wu, Guoyao; Fanzo, Jessica; Miller, Dennis D; Pingali, Prabhu; Post, Mark; Steiner, Jean L; Thalacker-Mercer, Anna E

    2014-08-01

    The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimates that 843 million people worldwide are hungry and a greater number suffer from nutrient deficiencies. Approximately one billion people have inadequate protein intake. The challenge of preventing hunger and malnutrition will become even greater as the global population grows from the current 7.2 billion people to 9.6 billion by 2050. With increases in income, population, and demand for more nutrient-dense foods, global meat production is projected to increase by 206 million tons per year during the next 35 years. These changes in population and dietary practices have led to a tremendous rise in the demand for food protein, especially animal-source protein. Consuming the required amounts of protein is fundamental to human growth and health. Protein needs can be met through intakes of animal and plant-source foods. Increased consumption of food proteins is associated with increased greenhouse gas emissions and overutilization of water. Consequently, concerns exist regarding impacts of agricultural production, processing and distribution of food protein on the environment, ecosystem, and sustainability. To address these challenging issues, the New York Academy of Sciences organized the conference "Frontiers in Agricultural Sustainability: Studying the Protein Supply Chain to Improve Dietary Quality" to explore sustainable innovations in food science and programming aimed at producing the required quality and quantity of protein through improved supply chains worldwide. This report provides an extensive discussion of these issues and summaries of the presentations from the conference. © 2014 New York Academy of Sciences.

  20. Preference-based disease-specific health-related quality of life instrument for glaucoma: a mixed methods study protocol.

    PubMed

    Muratov, Sergei; Podbielski, Dominik W; Jack, Susan M; Ahmed, Iqbal Ike K; Mitchell, Levine A H; Baltaziak, Monika; Xie, Feng

    2016-11-08

    A primary objective of healthcare services is to improve patients' health and health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Glaucoma, which affects a substantial proportion of the world population, has a significant detrimental impact on HRQoL. Although there are a number of glaucoma-specific questionnaires to measure HRQoL, none is preference-based which prevent them from being used in health economic evaluation. The proposed study is aimed to develop a preference-based instrument that is capable of capturing important effects specific to glaucoma and treatments on HRQoL and is scored based on the patients' preferences. A sequential, exploratory mixed methods design will be used to guide the development and evaluation of the HRQoL instrument. The study consists of several stages to be implemented sequentially: item identification, item selection, validation and valuation. The instrument items will be identified and selected through a literature review and the conduct of a qualitative study. Validation will be conducted to establish psychometric properties of the instrument followed by a valuation exercise to derive utility scores for the health states described. This study has been approved by the Trillium Health Partners Research Ethics Board (ID number 753). All personal information will be de-identified with the identification code kept in a secured location including the rest of the study data. Only qualified and study-related personnel will be allowed to access the data. The results of the study will be distributed widely through peer-reviewed journals, conferences and internal meetings. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

  1. Mini-conference on helicon plasma sources

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Scime, E. E.; Keesee, A. M.; Boswell, R. W.

    2008-05-15

    The first two sessions of this mini-conference focused attention on two areas of helicon source research: The conditions for optimal helicon source performance and the origins of energetic electrons and ions in helicon source plasmas. The final mini-conference session reviewed novel applications of helicon sources, such as mixed plasma source systems and toroidal helicon sources. The session format was designed to stimulate debate and discussion, with considerable time available for extended discussion.

  2. Quality transitivity and traceability system of herbal medicine products based on quality markers.

    PubMed

    Liu, Changxiao; Guo, De-An; Liu, Liang

    2018-05-15

    Due to a variety of factors to affect the herb quality, the existing quality management model is unable to evaluate the process control. The development of the concept of "quality marker" (Q-marker) lays basis for establishing an independent process quality control system for herbal products. To ensure the highest degree of safety, effectiveness and quality process control of herbal products, it is aimed to establish a quality transitivity and traceability system of quality and process control from raw materials to finished herbal products. Based on the key issues and challenges of quality assessment, the current status of quality and process controls from raw materials to herbal medicinal products listed in Pharmacopoeia were analyzed and the research models including discovery and identification of Q-markers, analysis and quality management of risk evaluation were designed. Authors introduced a few new technologies and methodologies, such as DNA barcoding, chromatographic technologies, fingerprint analysis, chemical markers, bio-responses, risk management and solution for quality process control. The quality and process control models for herbal medicinal products were proposed and the transitivity and traceability system from raw materials to the finished products was constructed to improve the herbal quality from the entire supply and production chain. The transitivity and traceability system has been established based on quality markers, especially on how to control the production process under Good Engineering Practices, as well as to implement the risk management for quality and process control in herbal medicine production. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

  3. Innovative Equipment and Production Method for Mixed Fodder in the Conditions of Agricultural Enterprises

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sabiev, U. K.; Demchuk, E. V.; Myalo, V. V.; Soyunov, A. S.

    2017-07-01

    It is recommended to feed the cattle and poultry with grain fodder in the form of feed mixture balanced according to the content. Feeding of grain fodder in the form of stock feed is inefficient and economically unreasonable. The article is devoted to actual problem - the preparation of mixed fodder in the conditions of agricultural enterprises. Review and critical analyses of mixed fodder assemblies and aggregates are given. Structural and technical schemes of small-size mixed fodder aggregate with intensified attachments of vibrating and percussive action for preparation of bulk feed mixture in the conditions of agricultural enterprises were developed. The mixed fodder aggregate for its preparation in the places of direct consumption from own grain fodder production and purchased protein and vitamin supplements is also suggested. Mixed fodder aggregate allows to get prepared mixed fodder of high uniformity at low cost of energy and price of production that is becoming profitable for livestock breeding. Model line-up of suggested mixed fodder aggregate with different productivity both for small and big agricultural enterprises is considered.

  4. Effect on quality of life of the mixed house dust mite/weed pollen extract immunotherapy.

    PubMed

    Li, Lisha; Guan, Kai

    2016-07-01

    Although many patients with allergic rhinitis have symptoms due to sensitization to more than one kind of allergens, and mixed allergen extracts are widely used for immunotherapy, there are few published trials. Our study aimed to evaluate the effect of multiple-allergen immunotherapy on improving the symptoms and quality of life of allergic rhinitis patients. We performed a 1-year single-center observation study of subcutaneous immunotherapy using house dust mite extract (n = 12), weed pollen extract (n = 21), or mixed house dust mite/weed pollen extract (n = 11) in 44 allergic rhinitis patients. All the allergens responsible for the symptom of each patient were included in his immunotherapy. Symptom score, medication score, and quality of life of the patients were evaluated before and after 1-year immunotherapy. Quality of life was evaluated with the Rhinoconjunctivitis Quality of Life Questionnaire. In all 3 groups receiving subcutaneous immunotherapy, significant improvement of symptom score, medication score, and quality of life was found vs. baseline at 1 year, irrespective of the allergen used. In the weed pollen season, the changes of quality of life questionnaire score after 1-year treatment were not significantly different between the weed pollen group (1.55 ± 1.24) and the mixed house dust mite/weed pollen group (1.14 ± 1.01). The same happened in the nonpollen seasons, during which dust mite immunotherapy (1.23 ± 1.63) and mixed immunotherapy (0.60 ± 0.47) did not show significantly different effect on the quality of life. The multiple-allergen immunotherapy might be effective in polysensitized allergic rhinitis patients, and could improve their quality of life. Our result did not show significant difference between the effects of multiple-allergen immunotherapy and mono-allergen immunotherapy.

  5. Determination of Protein Content by NIR Spectroscopy in Protein Powder Mix Products.

    PubMed

    Ingle, Prashant D; Christian, Roney; Purohit, Piyush; Zarraga, Veronica; Handley, Erica; Freel, Keith; Abdo, Saleem

    2016-01-01

    Protein is a principal component in commonly used dietary supplements and health food products. The analysis of these products, within the consumer package form, is of critical importance for the purpose of ensuring quality and supporting label claims. A rapid test method was developed using near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy as a compliment to current protein determination by the Dumas combustion method. The NIR method was found to be a rapid, low-cost, and green (no use of chemicals and reagents) complimentary technique. The protein powder samples analyzed in this study were in the range of 22-90% protein. The samples were prepared as mixtures of soy protein, whey protein, and silicon dioxide ingredients, which are common in commercially sold protein powder drink-mix products in the market. A NIR regression model was developed with 17 samples within the constituent range and was validated with 20 independent samples of known protein levels (85-88%). The results show that the NIR method is capable of predicting the protein content with a bias of ±2% and a maximum bias of 3% between NIR and the external Dumas method.

  6. The Learning Conference

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ravn, Ib

    2007-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to call attention to the fact that conferences for professionals rely on massive one-way communication and hence produce little learning for delegates--and to introduce an alternative, the "learning conference", that involves delegates in fun and productive learning processes.…

  7. Development of a nonlocal convective mixing scheme with varying upward mixing rates for use in air quality and chemical transport models.

    PubMed

    Mihailović, Dragutin T; Alapaty, Kiran; Sakradzija, Mirjana

    2008-06-01

    Asymmetrical convective non-local scheme (CON) with varying upward mixing rates is developed for simulation of vertical turbulent mixing in the convective boundary layer in air quality and chemical transport models. The upward mixing rate form the surface layer is parameterized using the sensible heat flux and the friction and convective velocities. Upward mixing rates varying with height are scaled with an amount of turbulent kinetic energy in layer, while the downward mixing rates are derived from mass conservation. This scheme provides a less rapid mass transport out of surface layer into other layers than other asymmetrical convective mixing schemes. In this paper, we studied the performance of a nonlocal convective mixing scheme with varying upward mixing in the atmospheric boundary layer and its impact on the concentration of pollutants calculated with chemical and air-quality models. This scheme was additionally compared versus a local eddy-diffusivity scheme (KSC). Simulated concentrations of NO(2) and the nitrate wet deposition by the CON scheme are closer to the observations when compared to those obtained from using the KSC scheme. Concentrations calculated with the CON scheme are in general higher and closer to the observations than those obtained by the KSC scheme (of the order of 15-20%). Nitrate wet deposition calculated with the CON scheme are in general higher and closer to the observations than those obtained by the KSC scheme. To examine the performance of the scheme, simulated and measured concentrations of a pollutant (NO(2)) and nitrate wet deposition was compared for the year 2002. The comparison was made for the whole domain used in simulations performed by the chemical European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme Unified model (version UNI-ACID, rv2.0) where schemes were incorporated.

  8. Maintaining Quality in Troubled Times. Pacific Rim Association for Higher Education Annual Conference (2nd, Seattle, Washington, October 13-14, 1981).

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pacific Rim Association for Higher Education.

    Proceedings of the Pacific Rim Association for Higher Education 1981 conference are summarized. Authors and the summarized papers are as follows: "Maintaining Quality in Troubled Times: The University Perspective" (George M. Beckmann); "Maintaining Quality in Troubled Times: The Community College Perspective" (Don A. Morgan);…

  9. Higher Education 2000: What Will Be New? What Will Be Different? Proceedings of the Annual Accreditation and Quality Assurance Conference (1999).

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Commission on Higher Education, Philadelphia, PA. Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools.

    This collection of essays from the 1999 Annual Accreditation and Quality Assurance Conference includes: "Wanted: President for the New Millennium" (Stephen Joel Trachtenberg); "Medium and Message: Passion, Values, and Quality in the New Academy" (John Daniel); "The 100th Anniversary of the College Board" (Nicholas…

  10. [Educational Quality Indicators: Taking Stock.] Proceedings of the Conference (Los Angeles, California, October 12-13, 1989).

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    CRESST Evaluation Comment, 1989

    1989-01-01

    An overview of an international conference held on the campus of the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) to take stock of the development and use of educational quality indicator systems at the local, state, national, and international levels is provided. Major implications and findings of the education summit held at the University of…

  11. Open Access and the Future of the ASP Conference Series

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jensen, J. B.; Moody, J. W.; Barnes, J.

    2010-10-01

    The Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP) has been publishing the proceedings of conferences in astronomy and astrophysics for more than twenty years. The ASP Conference Series (ASPCS) is widely known for its affordable and high-quality printed volumes. The ASPCS is adapting to the changing ways astronomers use our proceedings volumes, both electronically and in print. Recently there has been increasing pressure from government agencies and the academic community for "open access" (electronic copies of scholarly publications made freely available immediately after publication), and we discuss how the ASPCS is responding to the needs of the professional astronomical community, the scholarly society that supports us (the ASP), and humanity at large. While we cannot yet provide full open access and stay in business, we are actively pursuing several initiatives to improve the quality of our product and the impact of the papers we publish.

  12. Operational CryoSat Product Quality Assessment

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mannan, Rubinder; Webb, Erica; Hall, Amanda; Bouzinac, Catherine

    2013-12-01

    The performance and quality of the CryoSat data products are routinely assessed by the Instrument Data quality Evaluation and Analysis Service (IDEAS). This information is then conveyed to the scientific and user community in order to allow them to utilise CryoSat data with confidence. This paper presents details of the Quality Control (QC) activities performed for CryoSat products under the IDEAS contract. Details of the different QC procedures and tools deployed by IDEAS to assess the quality of operational data are presented. The latest updates to the Instrument Processing Facility (IPF) for the Fast Delivery Marine (FDM) products and the future update to Baseline-C are discussed.

  13. 21 CFR 163.145 - Mixed dairy product chocolates.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-04-01

    ... 163.145 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES... ingredients for milk chocolate in § 163.130, except that: (1) The optional dairy ingredients for each of the...; or (iv) Malted milk; and (2) The finished mixed dairy product chocolates shall contain not less than...

  14. The 2009 National Environmental Public Health Conference: one model for planning green and healthy conferences.

    PubMed

    Ruckart, Perri Zeitz; Moore, Cory; Burgin, Deborah; Byrne, Maggie Kelly

    2011-01-01

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Environmental Health and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry committed to making their 2009 National Environmental Public Health Conference a model for green and healthy conferences. The conference included increased opportunities for physical activity, both as part of conference events and for transportation to the conference. In addition, conference meals were healthy and sustainably sourced. The conference also implemented intuitive, accessible recycling; online scheduling and evaluation to minimize hard-copy materials; and the purchase of carbon offsets to reduce the unwanted environmental impact of the conference. Public health professionals have an opportunity and obligation to support healthy behaviors at their events and to serve as leaders in this area. Facilitating healthy and sustainable choices is in alignment with goals for both public health and broader social issues-such as environmental quality-that have a direct bearing on public health.

  15. Linking microbial community structure and product spectrum of rice straw fermentation with undefined mixed culture

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ai, Binling; Chi, Xue; Meng, Jia; Sheng, Zhanwu; Zheng, Lili; Zheng, Xiaoyan; Li, Jianzheng

    2017-12-01

    Undefined mixed culture-based fermentation is an alternative strategy for biofuels and bioproducts production from lignocellulosic biomass without supplementary cellulolytic enzymes. Mixed culture produces mixed carboxylates. To estimate the relationship between microbial community structure and product spectrum, carboxylate production was initiated by mixed cultures with different microbial community structure. All the inoculum cultures were derived from the same enrichment culture from the combination of cattle manure, pig manure compost, corn field soil and rotten wood. Due to the differences in the preparation method and culture time, the inoculum cultures for batch fermentation had high similarity in microbial community structure, while the community structure of each inoculum culture for repeated batch fermentation differed from that of another. The inoculum cultures with similar community structure led to a similar product spectrum. In batch fermentation, the selectivity of main product butyric acid stabilized around 76%. The inoculum cultures with different community structures resulted in different product spectra. In repeated batch fermentation, the butyric acid content gradually decreased to 27%, and the by-product acetic acid content steadily increased to 56%. The other by-products including propionic, valeric and caproic acids were also increased. It is deduced that keeping the microbial community structure stable makes the basic and key precondition for steady production of specific carboxylic acid with undefined mixed culture.

  16. Academic poster design at a national conference: a need for standardised guidance?

    PubMed

    Gopal, Alan; Redman, Melody; Cox, David; Foreman, David; Elsey, Elizabeth; Fleming, Simon

    2017-10-01

    Academic posters are a common means of disseminating information at conferences. Presentation at conferences is frequently given weight in postgraduate training programme recruitment. Some conferences provide guidance for visual presentation of posters. For the Association of the Study of Medical Education (ASME) Annual Scientific Meeting (ASM) 2015, poster abstract guidance was provided; however, the guidance on poster design was limited to size and orientation. The aim of this study was to investigate academic poster quality at a national medical education conference to identify where standards could be promoted and improved. Presentation at conferences is frequently given weight in postgraduate training programme recruitment METHODS: Six auditors assessed all posters displayed at the ASME ASM (15-17 July 2015) using guidelines based upon a modified checklist for academic posters. Ten criteria were agreed as assessment standards for poster design quality. One-hundred-and-eighty posters were assessed: 29 per cent had appropriate copyright for the materials displayed (n = 52); 41 per cent included suitable contact details (n = 73); 48 per cent (n = 87) had a text to graphic ratio of 50 : 50; 72 per cent (n = 130) met ASME guidance for layout and orientation; 76 per cent (n = 137) had appropriate referencing; 78 per cent showed evidence of proofreading for grammar and spelling (n = 140); 79 per cent (n = 142) were readable at a distance of 2 metres; and 87 per cent used appropriate academic logos (n = 156). There was variability in design quality as assessed by these criteria. We recommend that detailed guidance should be produced and disseminated by the organising conference. This may improve poster quality and aid in the communication of presented material. We aim to re-audit following the production and dissemination of poster presentation guidance. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd and The Association for the Study of Medical

  17. Mixed Grazing Systems Benefit both Upland Biodiversity and Livestock Production

    PubMed Central

    Fraser, Mariecia D.; Moorby, Jon M.; Vale, James E.; Evans, Darren M.

    2014-01-01

    Background With world food demand expected to double by 2050, identifying farming systems that benefit both agricultural production and biodiversity is a fundamentally important challenge for the 21st century, but this has to be achieved in a sustainable way. Livestock grazing management directly influences both economic outputs and biodiversity on upland farms while contributing to potentially damaging greenhouse gas emissions, yet no study has attempted to address these impacts simultaneously. Methods Using a replicated, landscape-scale field experiment consisting of five management ‘systems’ we tested the effects of progressively altering elements within an upland farming system, viz i) incorporating cattle grazing into an upland sheep system, ii) integrating grazing of semi-natural rough grazing into a mixed grazing system based on improved pasture, iii) altering the stocking ratio within a mixed grazing system, and iv) replacing modern crossbred cattle with a traditional breed. We quantified the impacts on livestock productivity and numbers of birds and butterflies over four years. Results, Conclusion and Significance We found that management systems incorporating mixed grazing with cattle improve livestock productivity and reduce methane emissions relative to sheep only systems. Systems that also included semi-natural rough grazing consistently supported more species of birds and butterflies, and it was possible to incorporate bouts of summer grazing of these pastures by cattle to meet habitat management prescriptions without compromising cattle performance overall. We found no evidence that the system incorporating a cattle breed popular as a conservation grazer was any better for bird and butterfly species richness than those based on a mainstream breed, yet methane emissions from such a system were predicted to be higher. We have demonstrated that mixed upland grazing systems not only improve livestock production, but also benefit biodiversity

  18. Mixed grazing systems benefit both upland biodiversity and livestock production.

    PubMed

    Fraser, Mariecia D; Moorby, Jon M; Vale, James E; Evans, Darren M

    2014-01-01

    With world food demand expected to double by 2050, identifying farming systems that benefit both agricultural production and biodiversity is a fundamentally important challenge for the 21(st) century, but this has to be achieved in a sustainable way. Livestock grazing management directly influences both economic outputs and biodiversity on upland farms while contributing to potentially damaging greenhouse gas emissions, yet no study has attempted to address these impacts simultaneously. Using a replicated, landscape-scale field experiment consisting of five management 'systems' we tested the effects of progressively altering elements within an upland farming system, viz i) incorporating cattle grazing into an upland sheep system, ii) integrating grazing of semi-natural rough grazing into a mixed grazing system based on improved pasture, iii) altering the stocking ratio within a mixed grazing system, and iv) replacing modern crossbred cattle with a traditional breed. We quantified the impacts on livestock productivity and numbers of birds and butterflies over four years. We found that management systems incorporating mixed grazing with cattle improve livestock productivity and reduce methane emissions relative to sheep only systems. Systems that also included semi-natural rough grazing consistently supported more species of birds and butterflies, and it was possible to incorporate bouts of summer grazing of these pastures by cattle to meet habitat management prescriptions without compromising cattle performance overall. We found no evidence that the system incorporating a cattle breed popular as a conservation grazer was any better for bird and butterfly species richness than those based on a mainstream breed, yet methane emissions from such a system were predicted to be higher. We have demonstrated that mixed upland grazing systems not only improve livestock production, but also benefit biodiversity, suggesting a 'win-win' solution for farmers and conservationists.

  19. Physiological effects of diet mixing on consumer fitness: a meta-analysis.

    PubMed

    Lefcheck, Jonathan S; Whalen, Matthew A; Davenport, Theresa M; Stone, Joshua P; Duffy, J Emmett

    2013-03-01

    The degree of dietary generalism among consumers has important consequences for population, community, and ecosystem processes, yet the effects on consumer fitness of mixing food types have not been examined comprehensively. We conducted a meta-analysis of 161 peer-reviewed studies reporting 493 experimental manipulations of prey diversity to test whether diet mixing enhances consumer fitness based on the intrinsic nutritional quality of foods and consumer physiology. Averaged across studies, mixed diets conferred significantly higher fitness than the average of single-species diets, but not the best single prey species. More than half of individual experiments, however, showed maximal growth and reproduction on mixed diets, consistent with the predicted benefits of a balanced diet. Mixed diets including chemically defended prey were no better than the average prey type, opposing the prediction that a diverse diet dilutes toxins. Finally, mixed-model analysis showed that the effect of diet mixing was stronger for herbivores than for higher trophic levels. The generally weak evidence for the nutritional benefits of diet mixing in these primarily laboratory experiments suggests that diet generalism is not strongly favored by the inherent physiological benefits of mixing food types, but is more likely driven by ecological and environmental influences on consumer foraging.

  20. Using mixed-methods research to study the quality of life of coeliac women.

    PubMed

    Rodríguez Almagro, Julián; Hernández Martínez, Antonio; Solano Ruiz, María Carmen; Siles González, José

    2017-04-01

    To research the quality of life of Spanish women with coeliac disease. Women with coeliac disease express lower quality of life than men with coeliac disease. Explanatory sequential approach using mixed methods and with a gender perspective. The research was carried out between May and July 2015. In its quantitative stage, it aimed to determine the health-related quality of life in a representative sample (n = 1097) of Spanish adult women with coeliac disease using a specific questionnaire named Coeliac Disease-Quality of Life. In its qualitative phase, it aimed to describe the life experiences of a woman with coeliac disease in a qualitative manner by means of interviews (n = 19) with a semistructured script. Quantitative data were analysed using spss version 20 and presented in descriptive statistics. Qualitative data were analysed using the directed content analysis. The quantitative process gave us the values on the four aspects studied: dysphoria, disease limitations, health problems and inadequate treatment. These aspects allowed us to create a qualitative process, based on which we generated an interview, from which four larger categories emerged. These categories were feelings at diagnosis, limitations in day-to-day life, social perceptions of the disease and personal meanings of coeliac disease. Thus, both phases of our project are totally connected. There was a high level of congruence between quantitative scores and narratives. This study shows us the strong points of mixed-methods strategy in health sciences. The mixed-methods strategy gave us a wider view of the experience of women living with coeliac disease. In our case, a strength and not a limitation is having performed the quality of life study in women with coeliac disease using a mixed methodology, approaching the experience of being a woman with coeliac disease in Spain in two different but complementary ways. The quantitative and qualitative data allowed us to interpret the experiences of

  1. European consensus conference for external quality assessment in molecular pathology.

    PubMed

    van Krieken, J H; Siebers, A G; Normanno, N

    2013-08-01

    Molecular testing of tumor samples to guide treatment decisions is of increasing importance. Several drugs have been approved for treatment of molecularly defined subgroups of patients, and the number of agents requiring companion diagnostics for their prescription is expected to rapidly increase. The results of such testing directly influence the management of individual patients, with both false-negative and false-positive results being harmful for patients. In this respect, external quality assurance (EQA) programs are essential to guarantee optimal quality of testing. There are several EQA schemes available in Europe, but they vary in scope, size and execution. During a conference held in early 2012, medical oncologists, pathologists, geneticists, molecular biologists, EQA providers and representatives from pharmaceutical industries developed a guideline to harmonize the standards applied by EQA schemes in molecular pathology. The guideline comprises recommendations on the organization of an EQA scheme, defining the criteria for reference laboratories, requirements for EQA test samples and the number of samples that are needed for an EQA scheme. Furthermore, a scoring system is proposed and consequences of poor performance are formulated. Lastly, the contents of an EQA report, communication of the EQA results, EQA databases and participant manual are given.

  2. 7 CFR 58.142 - Product quality and stability.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... production of the highest quality of finished product and improve product stability. Milk should not be more... 7 Agriculture 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Product quality and stability. 58.142 Section 58.142... Procedures § 58.142 Product quality and stability. The receiving, holding and processing of milk and cream...

  3. Relation between microbiological quality, metabolite production and sensory quality of equilibrium modified atmosphere packaged fresh-cut produce.

    PubMed

    Jacxsens, L; Devlieghere, F; Ragaert, P; Vanneste, E; Debevere, J

    2003-06-25

    The quality of four types of fresh-cut produce, packaged in consumer-sized packages under an equilibrium modified atmosphere and stored at 7 degrees C, was assessed by establishing the relation between the microbial outgrowth and the corresponding production of nonvolatile compounds and related sensory disorders. In vitro experiments, performed on a lettuce-juice-agar, demonstrated the production of nonvolatile compounds by spoilage causing lactic acid bacteria and Enterobacteriaceae. Pseudomonas fluorescens and yeasts, however, were not able to produce detectable amounts of nonvolatile metabolites. The type of spoilage and quality deterioration in vivo depended on the type of vegetable. Mixed lettuce and chicory endives, leafy tissues, containing naturally low concentrations of sugars, showed a spoilage dominated by Gram-negative microorganisms, which are not producing nonvolatile compounds. Sensory problems were associated with visual properties and the metabolic activity of the plant tissue. Mixed bell peppers and grated celeriac, on the other hand, demonstrated a fast and intense growth of spoilage microorganisms, dominated by lactic acid bacteria and yeasts. This proliferation resulted in detectable levels of organic acids and the rejection by the trained sensory panel was based on the negative perception of the organoleptical properties (off-flavour, odour and taste). The applied microbiological criteria corresponded well with detectable changes in sensory properties and measurable concentrations of nonvolatile compounds, surely in the cases where lactic acid bacteria and yeasts were provoking spoilage. Consequently, the freshness of minimally processed vegetables, sensitive for outgrowth of lactic acid bacteria and yeasts (e.g., carrots, celeriac, bell peppers, mixtures with non-leafy vegetables) can be evaluated via analysis of the produced nonvolatile compounds.

  4. Bipolar patients' quality of life in mixed states: a preliminary qualitative study.

    PubMed

    Lee Mortensen, Gitte; Vinberg, Maj; Lee Mortensen, Steen; Balslev Jørgensen, Martin; Eberhard, Jonas

    2015-01-01

    Approximately 20% of patients with bipolar disorder experience mixed states. Mixed states are associated with more comorbidity, poorer treatment response and prognosis, increased relapse rate, and decreased functioning. This study aimed to produce in-depth knowledge about bipolar patients' quality of life (QoL) and functioning related to mixed states. This study used qualitative research methods. A semi-structured interview guide based on a literature study was applied in interviews with 6 remitted bipolar I patients having experienced mixed states. A medical anthropological approach was applied to analyse the data. Participants described mixed states as worse than other bipolar disorder states and their residual symptoms were prolonged. Mixed states affected the functioning of patients in key life domains such as self-esteem, family, love and social life, physical well-being, and working capability. Mixed states may severely affect the QoL and functioning of bipolar patients. Our results indicate that improving these should be a main goal of patient treatment. With an aim of adequately identifying and treating mixed states, our findings highlight the need for knowledge about this particularly severe expression of bipolar disorder. These results should be confirmed in a larger sample of patients with varying socioeconomic status.

  5. Understanding Quality Issues in Your Surgical Department: Comparing the ACS NSQIP With Traditional Morbidity and Mortality Conferences in a Canadian Academic Hospital.

    PubMed

    Auspitz, Mark; Cleghorn, Michelle C; Tse, Alvina; Sockalingam, Sanjeev; Quereshy, Fayez A; Okrainec, Allan; Jackson, Timothy D

    2015-01-01

    Review of surgical complications in traditional morbidity and mortality (M&M) rounds remains an important mechanism to identify and discuss quality-of-care issues. This process relies on case selection by providers; therefore, complications identified for review may differ from those captured in comprehensive quality programs such as the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP). Additionally, although the ACS NSQIP captures robust data on complications in surgical wards, without strategies to disseminate this information to staff and improve practice, minimal change may result. The objective of this study was to compare complications identified by the ACS NSQIP with those captured in M&M conferences at a large Canadian academic hospital. Retrospective medical record reviews of all patients admitted to the general surgery unit from March 2012 to March 2013 were reviewed. Number and types of complications were recorded for cases that were both submitted and reviewed in M&M rounds and those cases that were submitted but not reviewed. These complications were compared with those extracted from our local ACS NSQIP database. A total of 1348 general surgical procedures were performed. The ACS NSQIP captured complications in 143 patients compared with 58 patients identified for review in M&M rounds. Both the methods identified similar proportions of major and minor complications (ACS NSQIP 52% major, 48% minor; M&M 58% major, 42% minor). More postoperative deaths were entered into the ACS NSQIP (12) than in M&M conferences (8 reviewed and 2 submitted). The ACS NSQIP identified higher proportions of surgical site infections and readmissions. However, M&M conferences captured additional complications in patients who did not undergo surgery and identified potential quality issues in patients who did not ultimately experience an adverse outcome. M&M rounds and the ACS NSQIP provide important and potentially complementary data on

  6. Review of Lean Construction Conference Proceedings and Relationship to the Toyota Production System Framework

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jacobs, Gideon Francois

    2010-01-01

    The objective of this study was to align the International Group of Lean Construction (IGLC) conference proceedings against the Toyota Production System (TPS) to determine how well research themes in construction studies align with the TPS framework. Factories around the world that have implemented the TPS framework have experienced impressive…

  7. Proceedings: hidden forest values—the first Alaska-wide nontimber forest products conference and tour.

    Treesearch

    comps Alaska Boreal Forest Council

    2003-01-01

    The Hidden Forest Values Conference brought together a diverse assemblage of local, state, and federal agencies, tribal governments, traditional users, landholders, cottage enterprises and other nontimber forest products (NTFP) related businesses, scientists, and experts. The purpose of this forum was to exchange information, cooperate, and raise awareness of issues on...

  8. Quality assurance and control in the production and static tests of the solid rocket boosters for the Space Shuttle

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Cerny, O. F.

    1979-01-01

    The paper surveys the various aspects of design and overhaul of the solid rocket boosters. It is noted that quality control is an integral part of the design specifications. Attention is given to the production process which is optimized towards highest quality. Also discussed is the role of the DCA (Defense Contract Administration) in inspecting the products of subcontractors, noting that the USAF performs this role for prime contractors. Fabrication and construction of the booster is detailed with attention given to the lining of the booster cylinder and the mixing of the propellant and the subsequent X-ray inspection.

  9. Iron nutrition, biomass production, and plant product quality.

    PubMed

    Briat, Jean-François; Dubos, Christian; Gaymard, Frédéric

    2015-01-01

    One of the grand challenges in modern agriculture is increasing biomass production, while improving plant product quality, in a sustainable way. Of the minerals, iron (Fe) plays a major role in this process because it is essential both for plant productivity and for the quality of their products. Fe homeostasis is an important determinant of photosynthetic efficiency in algae and higher plants, and we review here the impact of Fe limitation or excess on the structure and function of the photosynthetic apparatus. We also discuss the agronomic, plant breeding, and transgenic approaches that are used to remediate Fe deficiency of plants on calcareous soils, and suggest ways to increase the Fe content and bioavailability of the edible parts of crops to improve human diet. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. Total Quality Management in Academic Libraries: Initial Implementation Efforts. Proceedings from the International Conference on TQM and Academic Libraries (1st, Washington, D.C., April 20-22, 1994).

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rounds, Laura, Ed.; Matthews, Michael, Ed.

    This document contains conference papers, other speeches, and supplementary material from the first International Conference on Total Quality Management (TQM) and Academic Libraries, held in 1994. The conference was comprised of four sessions, and the introductory remarks of each are included, along with transcriptions of each session's…

  11. Expert database system for quality control

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, Anne J.; Li, Zhi-Cheng

    1993-09-01

    There are more competitors today. Markets are not homogeneous they are fragmented into increasingly focused niches requiring greater flexibility in the product mix shorter manufacturing production runs and above allhigher quality. In this paper the author identified a real-time expert system as a way to improve plantwide quality management. The quality control expert database system (QCEDS) by integrating knowledge of experts in operations quality management and computer systems use all information relevant to quality managementfacts as well as rulesto determine if a product meets quality standards. Keywords: expert system quality control data base

  12. Influence of raw milk quality on processed dairy products: How do raw milk quality test results relate to product quality and yield?

    PubMed

    Murphy, Steven C; Martin, Nicole H; Barbano, David M; Wiedmann, Martin

    2016-12-01

    This article provides an overview of the influence of raw milk quality on the quality of processed dairy products and offers a perspective on the merits of investing in quality. Dairy farmers are frequently offered monetary premium incentives to provide high-quality milk to processors. These incentives are most often based on raw milk somatic cell and bacteria count levels well below the regulatory public health-based limits. Justification for these incentive payments can be based on improved processed product quality and manufacturing efficiencies that provide the processor with a return on their investment for high-quality raw milk. In some cases, this return on investment is difficult to measure. Raw milks with high levels of somatic cells and bacteria are associated with increased enzyme activity that can result in product defects. Use of raw milk with somatic cell counts >100,000cells/mL has been shown to reduce cheese yields, and higher levels, generally >400,000 cells/mL, have been associated with textural and flavor defects in cheese and other products. Although most research indicates that fairly high total bacteria counts (>1,000,000 cfu/mL) in raw milk are needed to cause defects in most processed dairy products, receiving high-quality milk from the farm allows some flexibility for handling raw milk, which can increase efficiencies and reduce the risk of raw milk reaching bacterial levels of concern. Monitoring total bacterial numbers in regard to raw milk quality is imperative, but determining levels of specific types of bacteria present has gained increasing importance. For example, spores of certain spore-forming bacteria present in raw milk at very low levels (e.g., <1/mL) can survive pasteurization and grow in milk and cheese products to levels that result in defects. With the exception of meeting product specifications often required for milk powders, testing for specific spore-forming groups is currently not used in quality incentive programs in

  13. 27th International Conference on CADCAM, Robotics and Factories of the Future 2014

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Karamanoglu, Mehmet; Yang, Xin-She; Zivanovic, Aleksandar; Smith, Martin; Loureiro, Rui

    2014-07-01

    It is a great pleasure to welcome you to the 27th International Conference on CADCAM, Robotics and Factories of the Future, sponsored by the International Society for Productivity Enhancement, Middlesex University, Festo Limited GB, National Instruments UK & Ireland, the Sector Skills Council for Science, Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies and our proceedings publisher Institute of Physics Publications. This is the second time Middlesex University has played host to this longstanding international conference, last time being the 12th edition in 1996. The subject content of the conference remains current, focusing on cutting edge developments in research. The conference themes this year are divided into seven themes, Product Development and Sustainability, Modelling and Simulation, Automation, Robotics and Handling Systems, Advanced Quality Systems Tools and Quality Management, Human Aspects in Engineering Activities, Emerging Scenarios in Engineering Education and Training, and Emerging Technologies in Factories of the Future. The conference is organised into seven sessions running in parallel over three days, providing a platform to speakers from 16 different countries. The programme also features four eminent keynote speakers and a hands-on workshop organised by National Instruments. Organising an event such as this would not be possible without the help of many colleagues. I am grateful to the members of the Organising Committee, the International Scientific Committee, our sponsors and all those colleagues who helped in the review of many abstracts and consequently full papers. This required meticulous attention to detail and strict adherence to very tight deadlines. However large or small a conference is, the effort required to make the local arrangements work for all is not insignificant. The conference organisers acknowledge the particular efforts of Miss Mita Vaghi in providing her expertise in event management and her diligent support and Anete

  14. Assessing product image quality for online shopping

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Goswami, Anjan; Chung, Sung H.; Chittar, Naren; Islam, Atiq

    2012-01-01

    Assessing product-image quality is important in the context of online shopping. A high quality image that conveys more information about a product can boost the buyer's confidence and can get more attention. However, the notion of image quality for product-images is not the same as that in other domains. The perception of quality of product-images depends not only on various photographic quality features but also on various high level features such as clarity of the foreground or goodness of the background etc. In this paper, we define a notion of product-image quality based on various such features. We conduct a crowd-sourced experiment to collect user judgments on thousands of eBay's images. We formulate a multi-class classification problem for modeling image quality by classifying images into good, fair and poor quality based on the guided perceptual notions from the judges. We also conduct experiments with regression using average crowd-sourced human judgments as target. We compute a pseudo-regression score with expected average of predicted classes and also compute a score from the regression technique. We design many experiments with various sampling and voting schemes with crowd-sourced data and construct various experimental image quality models. Most of our models have reasonable accuracies (greater or equal to 70%) on test data set. We observe that our computed image quality score has a high (0.66) rank correlation with average votes from the crowd sourced human judgments.

  15. Bottom quark anti-quark production and mixing in proton anti-proton collisions

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Yu, Zhaoou

    2003-03-01

    The studies of bottom quark-antiquark production in proton-antiproton collisions play an important role in testing perturbative QCD. Measuring the mixing parameter of B mesons imposes constraints on the quark mixing (CKM) matrix and enhances the understanding of the Standard Model. Multi-GeV pmore » $$\\bar{p}$$ colliders produce a significant amount of b$$\\bar{b}$$ pairs and thus enable studies in both of these fields. This thesis presents results of the b$$\\bar{b}$$ production cross section from p$$\\bar{p}$$ collisions at √s = 1.8 TeV and the time-integrated average B$$\\bar{B}$$ mixing parameter ($$\\bar{χ}$$) using highmass dimuon d a ta collected by CDF during its Run IB.« less

  16. High Wintertime Ozone in the Uinta Basin: Diurnal Mixing and Ozone Production Measured by Tethered Ozonesondes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Johnson, B.; Cullis, P.; Schnell, R. C.; Oltmans, S. J.; Sterling, C. W.; Jordan, A. F.; Hall, E.

    2016-12-01

    Extreme high ozone mixing ratios, far exceeding U.S. National Air Quality Standards, were observed in the Uinta Basin in January-February 2013 under conditions highly favorable for wintertime ozone production. Hourly average ozone mixing ratios increased from regional background levels of 40-50 ppbv to >160 ppbv during several multi-day episodes of prolonged temperature inversions over snow-covered ground within air confining topography. Extensive surface and tethered balloon profile measurements of ozone, meteorology, CH4, CO2, NO2 and a suite of non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHCs) link emissions from oil and natural gas extraction with the strong ozone production throughout the Basin. High levels of NMHCs that were well correlated with CH4 showed that abundant O3 precursors were available throughout the Basin where high ozone mixing ratios extended from the surface to the top of the inversion layer at 200 m above ground level. This layer was at a nearly uniform height across the Basin even though there are significant terrain variations. Tethered balloon measurements rising above the elevated levels of ozone within the cold pool layer beneath the inversion measured regional background O3 concentrations. Surface wind and direction data from tethered balloons showed a consistent diurnal pattern in the Basin that moved air with the highest levels of CH4 and ozone precursor NMHC's from the gas fields of the east-central portion of the Basin to the edges during the day, before draining back into the Basin at night.

  17. Synthesis gas production by mixed conducting membranes with integrated conversion into liquid products

    DOEpatents

    Nataraj, Shankar; Russek, Steven Lee; Dyer, Paul Nigel

    2000-01-01

    Natural gas or other methane-containing feed gas is converted to a C.sub.5 -C.sub.19 hydrocarbon liquid in an integrated system comprising an oxygenative synthesis gas generator, a non-oxygenative synthesis gas generator, and a hydrocarbon synthesis process such as the Fischer-Tropsch process. The oxygenative synthesis gas generator is a mixed conducting membrane reactor system and the non-oxygenative synthesis gas generator is preferably a heat exchange reformer wherein heat is provided by hot synthesis gas product from the mixed conducting membrane reactor system. Offgas and water from the Fischer-Tropsch process can be recycled to the synthesis gas generation system individually or in combination.

  18. (LMRG): Microscope Resolution, Objective Quality, Spectral Accuracy and Spectral Un-mixing

    PubMed Central

    Bayles, Carol J.; Cole, Richard W.; Eason, Brady; Girard, Anne-Marie; Jinadasa, Tushare; Martin, Karen; McNamara, George; Opansky, Cynthia; Schulz, Katherine; Thibault, Marc; Brown, Claire M.

    2012-01-01

    The second study by the LMRG focuses on measuring confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM) resolution, objective lens quality, spectral imaging accuracy and spectral un-mixing. Affordable test samples for each aspect of the study were designed, prepared and sent to 116 labs from 23 countries across the globe. Detailed protocols were designed for the three tests and customized for most of the major confocal instruments being used by the study participants. One protocol developed for measuring resolution and objective quality was recently published in Nature Protocols (Cole, R. W., T. Jinadasa, et al. (2011). Nature Protocols 6(12): 1929–1941). The first study involved 3D imaging of sub-resolution fluorescent microspheres to determine the microscope point spread function. Results of the resolution studies as well as point spread function quality (i.e. objective lens quality) from 140 different objective lenses will be presented. The second study of spectral accuracy looked at the reflection of the laser excitation lines into the spectral detection in order to determine the accuracy of these systems to report back the accurate laser emission wavelengths. Results will be presented from 42 different spectral confocal systems. Finally, samples with double orange beads (orange core and orange coating) were imaged spectrally and the imaging software was used to un-mix fluorescence signals from the two orange dyes. Results from 26 different confocal systems will be summarized. Time will be left to discuss possibilities for the next LMRG study.

  19. 77 FR 50608 - Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; New Hampshire; Hot Mix Asphalt Plants

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-08-22

    ... and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; New Hampshire; Hot Mix Asphalt Plants AGENCY... is approving a revision to New Hampshire's regulation Env-A 2703.02 for hot mix asphalt plants. This rule establishes and requires limitations on visible emissions from all hot mix asphalt plants. This...

  20. Simulation of Ejecta Production and Mixing Process of Sn Sample under shock loading

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, Pei; Chen, Dawei; Sun, Haiquan; Ma, Dongjun

    2017-06-01

    Ejection may occur when a strong shock wave release at the free surface of metal material and the ejecta of high-speed particulate matter will be formed and further mixed with the surrounding gas. Ejecta production and its mixing process has been one of the most difficult problems in shock physics remain unresolved, and have many important engineering applications in the imploding compression science. The present paper will introduce a methodology for the theoretical modeling and numerical simulation of the complex ejection and mixing process. The ejecta production is decoupled with the particle mixing process, and the ejecta state can be achieved by the direct numerical simulation for the evolution of initial defect on the metal surface. Then the particle mixing process can be simulated and resolved by a two phase gas-particle model which uses the aforementioned ejecta state as the initial condition. A preliminary ejecta experiment of planar Sn metal Sample has validated the feasibility of the proposed methodology.

  1. Quality information for quality use of medicines; 2nd International Conference, Kazan, 15-16 October 2010.

    PubMed

    Ziganshina, Lilia E; Menkes, David B; Herxheimer, Andrew

    2011-01-01

    Kazan hosted Russia's first international conference on medicines that was entirely independent of the pharmaceutical industry, attracting 414 participants from 9 countries and 20 regions of the Russian Federation. The meeting was greeted and endorsed by world leaders in pharmaceutical information, policy and regulation. Delegates discussed the professional and social problems arising from unethical drug promotion, including compromised evidence from clinical trials and consequent impairments in health service delivery. The Conference adopted a resolution prioritizing policy development and health system needs, notably including the development of clinical pharmacology. A website documents conference materials and provides an interface for future collaboration: http://evidenceupdate-tatarstan.ru/confer.

  2. Radiation disinfestation of food and agricultural products

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Moy, J.H.

    1985-01-01

    This book presents the papers given at a conference on the radiodisinfestation of food and crops. Topics considered at the conference included food irradiation's impact of the US Agency for International Development, FDA regulations, irradiation as a quarantine treatment, quality attributes of irradiated fruits, low-dose irradiation, cesium 137 as a radiation source, radiosterilization, economic feasibility, marketing, consumer acceptance, and the packaging of irradiated products.

  3. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' Nursing Home Case-Mix and Quality Demonstration: a descriptive overview.

    PubMed

    Reilly, Karen E; Mueller, Christine; Zimmerman, David R

    2007-01-01

    This paper presents the first comprehensive account of a major national demonstration designed to integrate skilled nursing facilities (SNF) prospective case-mix payment and quality of care. It describes the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' Nursing Home Case-Mix and Quality (NHCMQ) Demonstration-the template for Medicare's SNF Prospective Payment System (PPS) implemented July 1998. The NHCMQ Demonstration provided the basis for one of the most significant changes in SNF reimbursement and quality monitoring policies to date. Prospective reimbursement policies created positive incentive for providers to admit Medicare residents under more equitable payment rates. However, controversy regarding unanticipated perverse provider incentives remains. The quality management system designed under the NHCMQDemonstration is currently used in over 17,000 nursing homes. Furthermore, under the NHCMQ Demonstration, one standardized assessment tool-the MDS-was used to assess a resident's clinical condition, to monitor quality, and to calculate provider reimbursement. Experiences from the NHCMQ Demonstration and continued evaluation of the current national PPS, along with state systems, provide a rich information source regarding prospective, case-mix reimbursement, and provider incentives.

  4. Ninth Annual NASA/Contractors Conference on Quality and Productivity. World Class Excellence: The Journey Continues. Conference presentations

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Templeton, Geoffrey B. (Editor); Stewart, Lynne M. (Editor)

    1992-01-01

    The topics covered include the following: The George M. Low Trophy; total quality assessment and measurement; using award criteria to improve organizational effectiveness; results--keeping an eye on the bottom line; capturing customer satisfaction; moving from management to leadership; leadership versus management; transforming the management team; leadership success stories; success stories in the quest for excellence; small business successes; education success stories; government success stories; tools and techniques for total quality management (TQM) integration; planning and organizing for TQM integration; successful stories for implementing system level TQM/CI tools; assessing TQM results; establishing an environment for continuous improvement at NASA; empowerment; synergism of partnering; and partnerships in education.

  5. 77 FR 50651 - Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; New Hampshire; Hot Mix Asphalt Plants

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-08-22

    ... and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; New Hampshire; Hot Mix Asphalt Plants AGENCY.... Specifically, EPA is proposing to approve amendments to the New Hampshire Hot Mix Asphalt Plant Rule at Env-A 2703.02(a). This rule establishes and requires limitations on visible emissions from all hot mix...

  6. Trauma quality improvement in low and middle income countries of the Asia-Pacific region: a mixed methods study.

    PubMed

    Stelfox, Henry Thomas; Joshipura, Manjul; Chadbunchachai, Witaya; Ellawala, Ranjith N; O'Reilly, Gerard; Nguyen, Thai Son; Gruen, Russell L

    2012-08-01

    Quality Improvement (QI) programs have been shown to be a valuable tool to strengthen care of severely injured patients, but little is known about them in low and middle income countries (LMIC). We sought to explore opportunities to improve trauma QI activities in LMIC, focusing on the Asia-Pacific region. We performed a mixed methods research study using both inductive thematic analysis of a meeting convened at the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, Melbourne, Australia, November 21-22, 2010 and a pre-meeting survey to explore experiences with trauma QI activities in LMIC. Purposive sampling was employed to invite participants with demonstrated leadership in trauma care to provide diverse representation of organizations and countries within Asia-Pacific. A total of 22 experts participated in the meeting and reported that trauma QI activities varied between countries and organizations: morbidity and mortality conferences (56 %), monitoring complications (31 %), preventable death studies (25 %), audit filters (19 %), and statistical methods for analyzing morbidity and mortality (6 %). Participants identified QI gaps to include paucity of reliable/valid injury data, lack of integrated trauma QI activities, absence of standards of care, lack of training in QI methods, and varying cultures of quality and safety. The group highlighted barriers to QI: limited engagement of leaders, organizational diversity, limited resources, heavy clinical workload, and medico-legal concerns. Participants proposed establishing the Asia-Pacific Trauma Quality Improvement Network (APTQIN) as a tool to facilitate training and dissemination of QI methods, injury data management, development of pilot QI projects, and advocacy for quality trauma care. Our study provides the first description of trauma QI practices, gaps in existing practices, and barriers to QI in LMIC of the Asia-Pacific region. In this study we identified opportunities for addressing these challenges, and that work

  7. College of American Pathologists Gynecologic Cytopathology Quality Consensus Conference on good laboratory practices in gynecologic cytology: background, rationale, and organization.

    PubMed

    Tworek, Joseph A; Henry, Michael R; Blond, Barbara; Jones, Bruce Allen

    2013-02-01

    Gynecologic cytopathology is a heavily regulated field, with Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 mandating the collection of many quality metrics. There is a lack of consensus regarding methods to collect, monitor, and benchmark these data and how these data should be used in a quality assurance program. Furthermore, the introduction of human papilloma virus testing and proficiency testing has provided more data to monitor. To determine good laboratory practices in quality assurance of gynecologic cytopathology. Data were collected through a written survey consisting of 98 questions submitted to 1245 Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments-licensed or Department of Defense laboratories. There were 541 usable responses. Additional input was sought through a Web posting of results and questions on the College of American Pathologists Web site. Four senior authors who authored the survey and 28 cytopathologists and cytotechnologists were assigned to 5 working groups to analyze data and present statements on good laboratory practices in gynecologic cytopathology at the College of American Pathologists Gynecologic Cytopathology Quality Consensus Conference. Ninety-eight attendees at the College of American Pathologists Gynecologic Cytopathology Quality Consensus Conference discussed and voted on good laboratory practice statements to obtain consensus. This paper describes the rationale, background, process, and strengths and limitations of a series of papers that summarize good laboratory practice statements in quality assurance in gynecologic cytopathology.

  8. Quality plan for a product line.

    PubMed

    Lanza, M L; Binus, G K; McMillan, F J

    1997-12-01

    Continuous Quality improvement (CQI) has undergone radical change as health care facilities merge, expand, and modify their existing services. CQI has shifted from a centralized position in health care organizations, to unit based, to product lines. This paper describes one product line's endeavors to develop a Quality Plan to direct CQI activities. One particular strength of our innovation is that the Quality Plan was developed with attention to the important balance of interdisciplinary cooperation and maintenance of appropriate discipline boundaries.

  9. Brand emotional credibility: effects of mixed emotions about branded products with varying credibility.

    PubMed

    Mileti, Antonio; Prete, M Irene; Guido, Gianluigi

    2013-10-01

    This research investigates the effects of mixed emotions on the positioning and on the intention to purchase different categories of branded products (i.e., Attractiveness-products, Expertise-products, and Trustworthiness-products), in relation to their main component of credibility (Ohanian, 1990). On the basis of a focus group (n = 12) aimed to identify the three branded products used as stimuli and a pre-test (n = 240) directed to discover emotions elicited by them, two studies (n = 630; n = 240) were carried out. Positioning and multiple regression analyses showed that positive and negative emotions are positively related with the positioning and the purchase intention of Attractiveness-products, and, respectively, positively and negatively related with those of Trustworthiness-products; whereas negative emotions are negatively associated with those of Expertise-products. Brand Emotional Credibility--i.e., the emotional believability of the brand positioning signals--may help to identify unconscious elements and the simultaneous importance of mixed emotions associated with different products to match consumers' desires and expectations.

  10. Mixed methods systematic review exploring mentorship outcomes in nursing academia.

    PubMed

    Nowell, Lorelli; Norris, Jill M; Mrklas, Kelly; White, Deborah E

    2017-03-01

    The aim of this study was to report on a mixed methods systematic review that critically examines the evidence for mentorship in nursing academia. Nursing education institutions globally have issued calls for mentorship. There is emerging evidence to support the value of mentorship in other disciplines, but the extant state of the evidence in nursing academia is not known. A comprehensive review of the evidence is required. A mixed methods systematic review. Five databases (MEDLINE, CINAHL, EMBASE, ERIC, PsycINFO) were searched using an a priori search strategy from inception to 2 November 2015 to identify quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods studies. Grey literature searches were also conducted in electronic databases (ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, Index to Theses) and mentorship conference proceedings and by hand searching the reference lists of eligible studies. Study quality was assessed prior to inclusion using standardized critical appraisal instruments from the Joanna Briggs Institute. A convergent qualitative synthesis design was used where results from qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods studies were transformed into qualitative findings. Mentorship outcomes were mapped to a theory-informed framework. Thirty-four studies were included in this review, from the 3001 records initially retrieved. In general, mentorship had a positive impact on behavioural, career, attitudinal, relational and motivational outcomes; however, the methodological quality of studies was weak. This review can inform the objectives of mentorship interventions and contribute to a more rigorous approach to studies that assess mentorship outcomes. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  11. [Development and application of reference materials containing mixed degradation products of amoxicillin and ampicillin].

    PubMed

    Li, Wei; Zhang, Wei-Qing; Li, Xiang; Hu, Chang-Qin

    2014-09-01

    Reference materials containing mixed degradation products of amoxicillin and ampicillin were developed after optimization of preparation processes. The target impurities were obtained by controlled stress testing, and each major component was identified with HPLC-MS and compared with single traceable reference standard each. The developed reference materials were applied to system suitability test for verifying HPLC system performed in accordance with set forth in China Pharmacopeia and identification of major impurities in samples based on retention and spectra information, which have advantages over the methods put forth in foreign pharmacopoeias. The development and application of the reference materials offer an effective way for rapid identification of impurities in chromatograms, and provide references for analyzing source of impurities and evaluation of drug quality.

  12. Volatile metabolite production of spoilage micro-organisms on a mixed-lettuce agar during storage at 7 degrees C in air and low oxygen atmosphere.

    PubMed

    Ragaert, P; Devlieghere, F; Devuyst, E; Dewulf, J; Van Langenhove, H; Debevere, J

    2006-11-01

    which are simulated by the mixed-lettuce agar, sensorial quality of shredded mixed lettuce could be influenced by the microbiological production of metabolites.

  13. PREFACE: Wake Conference 2015

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Barney, Andrew; Nørkær Sørensen, Jens; Ivanell, Stefan

    2015-06-01

    The 44 papers in this volume constitute the proceedings of the 2015 Wake Conference, held in Visby on the island of Gotland in Sweden. It is the fourth time this conference has been held. The Wake Conference series started in Visby, where it was held in 2009 and 2011. In 2013 it took place in Copenhagen where it was combined with the International Conference on Offshore Wind Energy and Ocean Energy. In 2015 it is back where it started in Visby, where it takes place at Uppsala University Campus Gotland, June 9th-11th. The global yearly production of electrical energy by wind turbines has grown tremendously in the past decade and it now comprises more than 3% of the global electrical power consumption. Today the wind power industry has a global annual turnover of more than 50 billion USD and an annual average growth rate of more than 20%. State-of-the-art wind turbines have rotor diameters of up to 150 m and 8 MW installed capacity. These turbines are often placed in large wind farms that have a total production capacity corresponding to that of a nuclear power plant. In order to make a substantial impact on one of the most significant challenges of our time, global warming, the industry's growth has to continue for a decade or two yet. This in turn requires research into the physics of wind turbine wakes and wind farms. Modern wind turbines are today clustered in wind farms in which the turbines are fully or partially influenced by the wake of upstream turbines. As a consequence, the wake behind the wind turbines has a lower mean wind speed and an increased turbulence level, as compared to the undisturbed flow outside the farm. Hence, wake interaction results in decreased total production of power, caused by lower kinetic energy in the wind, and an increase in the turbulence intensity. Therefore, understanding the physical nature of the vortices and their dynamics in the wake of a turbine is important for the optimal design of a wind farm. This conference is aimed

  14. Camptothecine production by mixed fermentation of two endophytic fungi from Nothapodytes nimmoniana.

    PubMed

    Bhalkar, Bhumika N; Patil, Swapnil M; Govindwar, Sanjay P

    2016-01-01

    Two endophytic fungi isolated from the endangered plant Nothapodytes nimmoniana (Grah.) Mabb. were found to effectively synthesize CPT independent of their host plant under submerged fermentation conditions. Molecular characterization of fungi revealed their identity as Colletotrichum fructicola SUK1 (F1) and Corynespora cassiicola SUK2 (F2). Mixed fermentation experiments were carried out to study the effect of microbial signalling between the two fungal species on camptothecine production. Effect of culture parameters on CPT production was studied for both mono-cultures (F1 and F2) separately as well as for the mixed fermentation (F1 + F2). Further the most influencing ones were optimized statistically using response surface methodology. Statistical model based optimized parameters were whey (70 %), agitation rate (110 rpm), temperature (30 °C), and incubation period (7 d) for the mixed fermentation. Monocultures of the two fungal species F1 and F2 yielded CPT up to 33 ± 1.1 mg l(-1)and 69 ± 1.1 mg l(-1), respectively; while their mixed fermentation under the optimized conditions yielded up to 146 ± 0.2 mg l(-1). HPLC and LC-MS/MS techniques were used to analyze the products obtained. Copyright © 2016 British Mycological Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Productivity growth in outpatient child and adolescent mental health services: the impact of case-mix adjustment.

    PubMed

    Halsteinli, Vidar; Kittelsen, Sverre A; Magnussen, Jon

    2010-02-01

    The performance of health service providers may be monitored by measuring productivity. However, the policy value of such measures may depend crucially on the accuracy of input and output measures. In particular, an important question is how to adjust adequately for case-mix in the production of health care. In this study, we assess productivity growth in Norwegian outpatient child and adolescent mental health service units (CAMHS) over a period characterized by governmental utilization of simple productivity indices, a substantial increase in capacity and a concurrent change in case-mix. We analyze the sensitivity of the productivity growth estimates using different specifications of output to adjust for case-mix differences. Case-mix adjustment is achieved by distributing patients into eight groups depending on reason for referral, age and gender, as well as correcting for the number of consultations. We utilize the nonparametric Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) method to implicitly calculate weights that maximize each unit's efficiency. Malmquist indices of technical productivity growth are estimated and bootstrap procedures are performed to calculate confidence intervals and to test alternative specifications of outputs. The dataset consist of an unbalanced panel of 48-60 CAMHS in the period 1998-2006. The mean productivity growth estimate from a simple unadjusted patient model (one single output) is 35%; adjusting for case-mix (eight outputs) reduces the growth estimate to 15%. Adding consultations increases the estimate to 28%. The latter reflects an increase in number of consultations per patient. We find that the governmental productivity indices strongly tend to overestimate productivity growth. Case-mix adjustment is of major importance and governmental utilization of performance indicators necessitates careful considerations of output specifications. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Measuring spatial variation in secondary production and food quality using a common consumer approach in Lake Erie

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Larson, James H.; Richardson, William B.; Evans, Mary Anne; Schaeffer, Jeff; Wynne, Timothy; Bartsch, Michelle; Bartsch, Lynn; Nelson, J. C.; Vallazza, Jon M.

    2016-01-01

    Lake Erie is a large lake straddling the border of the U.S. and Canada that has become increasingly eutrophic in recent years. Eutrophication is particularly focused in the shallow western basin. The western basin of Lake Erie is hydrodynamically similar to a large estuary, with riverine inputs from the Detroit and Maumee Rivers mixing together and creating gradients in chemical and physical conditions. This study was driven by two questions: How does secondary production and food quality for consumers vary across this large mixing zone? and Are there correlations between cyanobacterial abundance and secondary production or food quality for consumers? Measuring spatial and temporal variation in secondary production and food quality is difficult for a variety of logistical reasons, so here a common consumer approach was used. In a common consumer approach, individuals of a single species are raised under similar conditions until placed in the field across environmental gradients of interest. After some period of exposure, the response of that common consumer is measured to provide an index of spatial variation in conditions. Here, a freshwater mussel (Lampsilis siliquoidea) was deployed at 32 locations that spanned habitat types and a gradient in cyanobacterial abundance in the western basin of Lake Erie to measure spatial variation in growth (an index of secondary production) and fatty acid (FA) content (an index of food quality). We found secondary production was highest within the Maumee rivermouth and lowest in the open waters of the lake. Mussel tissues in the Maumee rivermouth also included more eicosapentaenoic and docosapentaenoic fatty acids (EPA and DPA, respectively), but fewer bacterial FAs, suggesting more algae at the base of the food web in the Maumee rivermouth compared to open lake sites. The satellite-derived estimate of cyanobacterial abundance was not correlated to secondary production, but was positively related to EPA and DPA content in the

  17. Offline modeling for product quality prediction of mineral processing using modeling error PDF shaping and entropy minimization.

    PubMed

    Ding, Jinliang; Chai, Tianyou; Wang, Hong

    2011-03-01

    This paper presents a novel offline modeling for product quality prediction of mineral processing which consists of a number of unit processes in series. The prediction of the product quality of the whole mineral process (i.e., the mixed concentrate grade) plays an important role and the establishment of its predictive model is a key issue for the plantwide optimization. For this purpose, a hybrid modeling approach of the mixed concentrate grade prediction is proposed, which consists of a linear model and a nonlinear model. The least-squares support vector machine is adopted to establish the nonlinear model. The inputs of the predictive model are the performance indices of each unit process, while the output is the mixed concentrate grade. In this paper, the model parameter selection is transformed into the shape control of the probability density function (PDF) of the modeling error. In this context, both the PDF-control-based and minimum-entropy-based model parameter selection approaches are proposed. Indeed, this is the first time that the PDF shape control idea is used to deal with system modeling, where the key idea is to turn model parameters so that either the modeling error PDF is controlled to follow a target PDF or the modeling error entropy is minimized. The experimental results using the real plant data and the comparison of the two approaches are discussed. The results show the effectiveness of the proposed approaches.

  18. What Is the Best Way to Measure Surgical Quality? Comparing the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program versus Traditional Morbidity and Mortality Conferences.

    PubMed

    Zhang, Jacques X; Song, Diana; Bedford, Julie; Bucevska, Marija; Courtemanche, Douglas J; Arneja, Jugpal S

    2016-04-01

    Morbidity and mortality conferences have played a traditional role in tracking complications. Recently, the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program Pediatrics (ACS NSQIP-P) has gained popularity as a risk-adjusted means of addressing quality assurance. The purpose of this article is to report an analysis of the two methodologies used within pediatric plastic surgery to determine the best way to manage quality. ACS NSQIP-P and morbidity and mortality data were extracted for 2012 and 2013 at a quaternary care institution. Overall complication rates were compared statistically, segregated by type and severity, followed by a subset comparison of ACS NSQIP-P-eligible cases only. Concordance and discordance rates between the two methodologies were determined. One thousand two hundred sixty-one operations were performed in the study period. Only 51.4 percent of cases were ACS NSQIP-P eligible. The overall complication rates of ACS NSQIP-P (6.62 percent) and morbidity and mortality conferences (6.11 percent) were similar (p = 0.662). Comparing for only ACS NSQIP-P-eligible cases also yielded a similar rate (6.62 percent versus 5.71 percent; p = 0.503). Although different complications are tracked, the concordance rate for morbidity and mortality and ACS NSQIP-P was 35.1 percent and 32.5 percent, respectively. The ACS NSQIP-P database is able to accurately track complication rates similarly to morbidity and mortality conferences, although it samples only half of all procedures. Although both systems offer value, limitations exist, such as differences in definitions and purpose. Because of the rigor of the ACS NSQIP-P, we recommend that it be expanded to include currently excluded cases and an extension of the study interval.

  19. The Rural Bookmobile: Quality as a Basic Ingredient. Conference Proceedings (2nd, Columbus, Ohio, June 18-20, 1986).

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Vavrek, Bernard, Ed.; Pratt, Mary Lou, Ed.

    Nine papers make up this proceedings on bookmobile services to rural areas. The primary theme of the conference was "programming," with emphasis on quality of services and how to market the bookmobile in communities. Although the primary focus is on rural library services, many of the ideas in these papers can be applied to metropolitan…

  20. Cytokine Production in Mixed Cultures of Mesenchymal Stromal Cells from Wharton's Jelly and Peripheral Blood Lymphocytes.

    PubMed

    Poltavtsev, A M; Poltavtseva, R A; Yushina, M N; Volgina, N E; Svirshchevskaya, E V

    2017-05-01

    We compared the production of 19 humoral factors in mixed cultures of mesenchymal stromal cells from Wharton's jelly and allogenic peripheral blood lymphocytes. For evaluation of the specificity of immunosuppressive activity of mesenchymal stromal cells, comparative analysis of the production of these humoral factors in mixed cultures of lymphocytes and epithelial BxPC-3 cells was conducted. The production of soluble factors in both mono- and mixed cultures significantly correlated (p<0.05). The maximum production was found for proinflammatory chemokine IP-10 and IFN-γ and anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10. The major difference of mesenchymal stromal cells from epithelial BxPC-3 cells was 7-fold higher production of IL-10, which can explain the immunosuppressive effect of mesenchymal stromal cells.

  1. Claremont Reading Conference. Thirty-Fourth Yearbook.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Douglass, Malcolm P., Ed.

    This collection of 19 articles included in the 34th Yearbook of the Claremont Reading Conference focuses on the theme "Reading and School Life," with specific emphasis on how the quality of school experiences affects the reader and the development of the reading process. The permanent conference theme is "Reading is the Process of Making…

  2. 7 CFR 58.142 - Product quality and stability.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... Procedures § 58.142 Product quality and stability. The receiving, holding and processing of milk and cream... accordance with clean and sanitary methods, consistent with good commercial practices to promote the production of the highest quality of finished product and improve product stability. Milk should not be more...

  3. 7 CFR 58.142 - Product quality and stability.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... Procedures § 58.142 Product quality and stability. The receiving, holding and processing of milk and cream... accordance with clean and sanitary methods, consistent with good commercial practices to promote the production of the highest quality of finished product and improve product stability. Milk should not be more...

  4. 7 CFR 58.142 - Product quality and stability.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... Procedures § 58.142 Product quality and stability. The receiving, holding and processing of milk and cream... accordance with clean and sanitary methods, consistent with good commercial practices to promote the production of the highest quality of finished product and improve product stability. Milk should not be more...

  5. 7 CFR 58.142 - Product quality and stability.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... Procedures § 58.142 Product quality and stability. The receiving, holding and processing of milk and cream... accordance with clean and sanitary methods, consistent with good commercial practices to promote the production of the highest quality of finished product and improve product stability. Milk should not be more...

  6. Evaluation of Safety, Quality and Productivity in Construction

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Usmen, M. A.; Vilnitis, M.

    2015-11-01

    This paper examines the success indicators of construction projects, safety, quality and productivity, in terms of their implications and impacts during and after construction. First safety is considered during construction with a focus on hazard identification and the prevention of occupational accidents and injuries on worksites. The legislation mandating safety programs, training and compliance with safety standards is presented and discussed. Consideration of safety at the design stage is emphasized. Building safety and the roles of building codes in prevention of structural failures are also covered in the paper together with factors affecting building failures and methods for their prevention. Quality is introduced in the paper from the perspective of modern total quality management. Concepts of quality management, quality control, quality assurance and Six Sigma and how they relate to building quality and structural integrity are discussed with examples. Finally, productivity concepts are presented with emphasis on effective project management to minimize loss of productivity, complimented by lean construction and lean Six Sigma principles. The paper concludes by synthesizing the relationships between safety, quality and productivity.

  7. 45. PRODUCTION AREA, GROUND FLOOR, EAST WING. GLAZE MIXING AREA ...

    Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

    45. PRODUCTION AREA, GROUND FLOOR, EAST WING. GLAZE MIXING AREA IN THE RIGHT BACKGROUND, COURTYARD THROUGH THE DOORWAY TO THE LEFT. - Moravian Pottery & Tile Works, Southwest side of State Route 313 (Swamp Road), Northwest of East Court Street, Doylestown, Bucks County, PA

  8. LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT IN MANAGEMENT, PRODUCT AND PROCESS DESIGN, AND POLICY DECISION MAKING: A CONFERENCE REPORT

    EPA Science Inventory

    On 24 September 2003, life cycle assessment (LCA) practitioners and decision makers gathered at the InLCA/LCM Conference in Seattle, Washington, USA (see http://www.lcacenter.org/InLCA-LCM03/index.html) to discuss the role of LCA in management, product design, process development...

  9. 2008 Gordon Research Conference on Electrodeposition [Conference summary report

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Moffat, Thomas P.; Gray, Nancy Ryan

    2009-01-01

    Electrodeposition melds key aspects of electrochemistry and materials science. In the last decade the advent of a variety of remarkable in situ characterization methods combined with the ever expanding application of wet chemical processing in high end technological endeavors has transformed the nature of the field. The 'old black magic' is giving way to the rigors of science as the electrodeposition process plays a central role in the fabrication of state-of-the-art ULSI and MEMS devices as well as being a key tool in the fabrication of novel materials and nanostructures. This year the conference will consider several timely issues suchmore » as how electrodeposition can contribute to the effective production of energy conversion devices, ranging from solar collectors to fuel cell electrocatalysts. Likewise, the challenge of building contacts and interconnects for next generation electronics will be examined over length scales ranging from individual atoms or molecules to chip stacking. Electrochemical fabrication of magnetic materials and devices as well as composite materials will also be discussed. Nucleation and growth phenomena underlie all aspect of electrochemical deposition and this year's meeting will consider the effect of both adsorbates and stress state on morphological evolution during thin film growth. A variety of new measurement methods for studying the growing electrode/electrolyte interface will also be detailed. In addition to the scheduled talks a session of short talks on late breaking news will be held Wednesday evening. There will also be at least two lively poster sessions that are essential elements of the conference and to which all attendees are encouraged to contribute. This will be 7th Electrodeposition GRC and based on past experience it is the premier 'mixing bowl' where young investigators and international experts have an extended opportunity to interact in a fun and collegial atmosphere. The afternoons provide free time for

  10. Effect of Total Quality Management on the Quality and Productivity of Human Resources

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Siregar, I.; Nasution, A. A.; Sari, R. M.

    2017-03-01

    Human resources is the main factor in improving company performance not only in industrial products but also services. Therefore, all of the organization performers involved must work together to achieve product quality services expected by consumers. Educational institutions are the service industries which are educators and instructor involved in it. Quality of product and services produced depends on the education organization performers. This study did a survey of instructors in public and private universities in North Sumatra to obtain the factors that affect quality of human resources and productivity of human resources. Human resources quality is viewed by the elements of TQM. TQM elements that are discussed in this study are leadership, communication, training and education, support structure, measurement and reward and recognition. The results of this study showed a correlation numbers across the exogenous variables on endogenous variables relationships tend to be strong and be positive. In addition, elements of TQM are discussed except the support structure which has a direct influence on the quality of human resources. Variable leadership, reward and recognition and quality of human resources have a significant effect on productivity.

  11. Building a Quality Workforce: A National Priority for the 21st Century. Conference Proceedings (Milwaukee, Wisconsin, October 23-25, 1989).

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bolin, Rick, Ed.; Green, Lori, Ed.

    Selected titles from a conference on building a quality workforce are as follows: "Action Packed 'Practical Education Now'" (Walters); "Adjusting to Transitions" (Schall, Dluzak); "Adult Literacy" (Nichols); "Aging Workforce" (Stowell et al.); "Artificial Intelligence and Human Performance Technology" (Ruyle); "Basic Academic Skills Problem"…

  12. Experimental study of bioethanol production using mixed cassava and durian seed

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Seer, Q. H.; Nandong, J.; Shanon, T.

    2017-06-01

    The production of biofuels using conventional fermentation feedstocks, such as sugar-and starch-based agricultural crops will in the long-term lead to a serious competition with human-animal food consumption. To avoid this competition, it is important to explore various alternative feedstocks especially those from inedible waste materials. Potentially, fruit wastes such as damaged fruits, peels and seeds represent alternative cheap feedstocks for biofuel production. In this work, an experimental study was conducted on ethanol production using mixed cassava and durian seeds through fermentation by Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast. The effects of pH, temperature and ratio of hydrolyzed cassava to durian seeds on the ethanol yield, substrate consumption and product formation rates were analyzed in the study. In flask-scale fermentation using the mixed cassava-durian seeds, it was found that the highest ethanol yield of 45.9 and a final ethanol concentration of 24.92 g/L were achieved at pH 5.0, temperature 35°C and 50:50 volume ratio of hydrolyzed cassava to durian seeds for a batch period of 48 hours. Additionally, the ethanol, glucose and biomass concentration profiles in a lab-scale bioreactor were examined for the fermentation using the proposed materials under the flask-scale optimum conditions. The ethanol yield of 35.7 and a final ethanol concentration of 14.61 g/L were obtained over a period of 46 hours where the glucose was almost fully consumed. It is worth noting that both pH and temperature have significant impacts on the fermentation process using the mixed cassava-durian seeds.

  13. 46 CFR 164.019-13 - Production quality control requirements.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... 46 Shipping 6 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Production quality control requirements. 164.019-13....019-13 Production quality control requirements. (a) General. Each component manufacturer shall establish procedures for maintaining quality control of the materials used in production, manufacturing...

  14. 46 CFR 164.019-13 - Production quality control requirements.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... 46 Shipping 6 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Production quality control requirements. 164.019-13....019-13 Production quality control requirements. (a) General. Each component manufacturer shall establish procedures for maintaining quality control of the materials used in production, manufacturing...

  15. 46 CFR 164.019-13 - Production quality control requirements.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 46 Shipping 6 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Production quality control requirements. 164.019-13....019-13 Production quality control requirements. (a) General. Each component manufacturer shall establish procedures for maintaining quality control of the materials used in production, manufacturing...

  16. 46 CFR 164.019-13 - Production quality control requirements.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... 46 Shipping 6 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Production quality control requirements. 164.019-13....019-13 Production quality control requirements. (a) General. Each component manufacturer shall establish procedures for maintaining quality control of the materials used in production, manufacturing...

  17. 46 CFR 164.019-13 - Production quality control requirements.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... 46 Shipping 6 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Production quality control requirements. 164.019-13....019-13 Production quality control requirements. (a) General. Each component manufacturer shall establish procedures for maintaining quality control of the materials used in production, manufacturing...

  18. 77 FR 58099 - Notice of Telephonic Prehearing Conference

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-09-19

    ... CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION [CPSC Docket No. 12-2] Notice of Telephonic Prehearing Conference AGENCY: U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: Notice of telephonic prehearing conference In the Matter of ZEN MAGNETS, LLC, CPSC Docket No. 12-2. [[Page 58100

  19. "Product on Stopper" in a Lyophilized Drug Product: Cosmetic Defect or a Product Quality Concern?

    PubMed

    Mehta, Shyam B; Roy, Shouvik; Yang, Han-Chang Cathy

    2018-06-01

    During manufacturing of a lyophilized drug product, operator errors in product handling during loading of product filled vials onto the lyophilizer can lead to a seemingly cosmetic defect which can impact certain critical quality attributes of finished product. In this study, filling of a formulated monoclonal antibody in vials was performed using a peristaltic pump filling unit, and subsequently, the product was lyophilized. After lyophilization, upon visual inspection, around 40% of vials had cosmetic defect with residual product around stopper of the vial and were categorized as "product on stopper" vials, whereas remaining 60% vials with no cosmetic defect were called "acceptable vials." Both groups of vials from 1 single batch were tested for critical quality attributes including protein concentration (ultraviolet absorbance at 280), residual moisture (Karl Fischer), sterility (membrane filtration), and container closure integrity (CCI) (blue dye ingress). Analysis of protein quality attributes such as aggregation, protein concentration, residual moisture showed no significant difference between vials with "product on stopper" and "acceptable vials." However, CCI of the "product on stopper" vials was compromised due to the presence of product around stopper of the vial. The results from this case study demonstrate the following 2 important findings: (1) that a seemingly cosmetic defect may impact product quality, compromising the integrity of the product and (2) that CCI test method can be used as an orthogonal method to sterility testing to evaluate sterility assurance of the product. The corrective action proposed to mitigate this defect is use of a larger sized vial that can potentially minimize this defect that arises because of product handling errors. Copyright © 2018 American Pharmacists Association®. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  20. In back alleys near Vancouver's AIDS conference, the disease was gaining ground.

    PubMed Central

    Cairney, R

    1996-01-01

    There was much more to this summer's international AIDS conference in Vancouver than reports by researchers. Richard Cairney says the $15-million conference attracted a mix of activists, demonstrators, physicians and business representatives, and they coexisted somewhat uneasily. Images p1161-a p1161-b p1163-a PMID:8873643

  1. Production system with process quality control: modelling and application

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tsou, Jia-Chi

    2010-07-01

    Over the past decade, there has been a great deal of research dedicated to the study of quality and the economics of production. In this article, we develop a dynamic model which is based on the hypothesis of a traditional economic production quantity model. Taguchi's cost of poor quality is used to evaluate the cost of poor quality in the dynamic production system. A practical case from the automotive industry, which uses the Six-sigma DMAIC methodology, is discussed to verify the proposed model. This study shows that there is an optimal value of quality investment to make the production system reach a reasonable quality level and minimise the production cost. Based on our model, the management can adjust its investment in quality improvement to generate considerable financial return.

  2. Student's Perceptions of Quality Learning in a Malaysian University--A Mixed Method Approach

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Choy, S. Chee; Yim, Joanne Sau-Ching; Tan, Poh Leong

    2017-01-01

    Purpose: This paper aims to examine students' perceptions of quality learning using a mixed-methods approach in a Malaysian university, with an aim to fill existing knowledge gaps in the literature on relationships among relevant quality variables. The study also assesses the extent to which detailed results from a few participants can be…

  3. [Pharmaceutical product quality control and good manufacturing practices].

    PubMed

    Hiyama, Yukio

    2010-01-01

    This report describes the roles of Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) in pharmaceutical product quality control. There are three keys to pharmaceutical product quality control. They are specifications, thorough product characterization during development, and adherence to GMP as the ICH Q6A guideline on specifications provides the most important principles in its background section. Impacts of the revised Pharmaceutical Affairs Law (rPAL) which became effective in 2005 on product quality control are discussed. Progress of ICH discussion for Pharmaceutical Development (Q8), Quality Risk Management (Q9) and Pharmaceutical Quality System (Q10) are reviewed. In order to reconstruct GMP guidelines and GMP inspection system in the regulatory agencies under the new paradigm by rPAL and the ICH, a series of Health Science studies were conducted. For GMP guidelines, product GMP guideline, technology transfer guideline, laboratory control guideline and change control system guideline were written. For the GMP inspection system, inspection check list, inspection memo and inspection scenario were proposed also by the Health Science study groups. Because pharmaceutical products and their raw materials are manufactured and distributed internationally, collaborations with other national authorities are highly desired. In order to enhance the international collaborations, consistent establishment of GMP inspection quality system throughout Japan will be essential.

  4. Production of a sterile species via active-sterile mixing: An exactly solvable model

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Boyanovsky, D.

    2007-11-01

    The production of a sterile species via active-sterile mixing in a thermal medium is studied in an exactly solvable model. The exact time evolution of the sterile distribution function is determined by the dispersion relations and damping rates Γ1,2 for the quasiparticle modes. These depend on γ˜=Γaa/2ΔE, with Γaa the interaction rate of the active species in absence of mixing and ΔE the oscillation frequency in the medium without damping. γ˜≪1, γ˜≫1 describe the weak and strong damping limits, respectively. For γ˜≪1, Γ1=Γaacos⁡2θm; Γ2=Γaasin⁡2θm where θm is the mixing angle in the medium and the sterile distribution function does not obey a simple rate equation. For γ˜≫1, Γ1=Γaa and Γ2=Γaasin⁡22θm/4γ˜2, is the sterile production rate. In this regime sterile production is suppressed and the oscillation frequency vanishes at an Mikheyev-Smirnov-Wolfenstein (MSW) resonance, with a breakdown of adiabaticity. These are consequences of quantum Zeno suppression. For active neutrinos with standard model interactions the strong damping limit is only available near an MSW resonance if sin⁡2θ≪αw with θ the vacuum mixing angle. The full set of quantum kinetic equations for sterile production for arbitrary γ˜ are obtained from the quantum master equation. Cosmological resonant sterile neutrino production is quantum Zeno suppressed relieving potential uncertainties associated with the QCD phase transition.

  5. The effects of temporal variability of mixed layer depth on primary productivity around Bermuda

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bissett, W. Paul; Meyers, Mark B.; Walsh, John J.; Mueller-Karger, Frank E.

    1994-01-01

    Temporal variations in primary production and surface chlorophyll concentrations, as measured by ship and satellite around Bermuda, were simulated with a numerical model. In the upper 450 m of the water column, population dynamics of a size-fractionated phytoplankton community were forced by daily changes of wind, light, grazing stress, and nutrient availability. The temporal variations of production and chlorophyll were driven by changes in nutrient introduction to the euphotic zone due to both high- and low-frequency changes of the mixed layer depth within 32 deg-34 deg N, 62 deg-64 deg W between 1979 and 1984. Results from the model derived from high-frequency (case 1) changes in the mixed layer depth showed variations in primary production and peak chlorophyll concentrations when compared with results from the model derived from low-frequency (case 2) mixed layer depth changes. Incorporation of size-fractionated plankton state variables in the model led to greater seasonal resolution of measured primary production and vertical chlorophyll profiles. The findings of this study highlight the possible inadequacy of estimating primary production in the sea from data of low-frequency temporal resolution and oversimplified biological simulations.

  6. Quality assurance of medicines supplied to low-income and middle-income countries: poor products in shiny boxes?

    PubMed Central

    Schiavetti, B; Meessen, B; Pouget, C; Caudron, J M; Marchal, B; Massat, P; Thys, S; Ravinetto, R

    2017-01-01

    Objective In today's context of globalisation of pharmaceutical production and distribution, international and national procurement agencies play a de facto key role in defining the quality of medicines available in sub-Saharan Africa. We evaluated the compliance of a sample of pharmaceutical distributors active in sub-Saharan Africa with the standards of the WHO guideline ‘Model Quality Assurance System (WHO MQAS) for procurement agencies’, and we investigated factors favouring or hindering the adequate implementation of the guideline. Methods We used mixed-methods methodology to analyse quantitative and qualitative data. The quantitative study consisted of a retrospective secondary analysis of data collected by QUAMED (Quality Medicines for all), a partnership that pleads for universal access to quality-assured medicines. The qualitative survey consisted of formal and informal interviews with key informants. We adopted an embedded multiple-case study design. Findings Our analysis suggests that international distributors based in Europe perform, on average, better than sub-Saharan African distributors. However, some weaknesses are ubiquitous and concern critical processes, such as the initial selection of the products and the ongoing reassessment of their quality. This is due to several different factors: weak regulatory oversight, insufficient human/financial resources, weak negotiating power, limited judicial autonomy and/or lack of institutional commitment to quality. Conclusions Our findings suggest that pharmaceutical distributors active in sub-Saharan Africa generally do not apply stringent criteria for selecting products and suppliers. Therefore, product quality is not consistently assured but depends on the requirements of purchasers. While long-term solutions are awaited, the WHO MQAS guideline should be used as an evaluation and training tool to upgrade current standards. PMID:28589013

  7. A scoring system for appraising mixed methods research, and concomitantly appraising qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods primary studies in Mixed Studies Reviews.

    PubMed

    Pluye, Pierre; Gagnon, Marie-Pierre; Griffiths, Frances; Johnson-Lafleur, Janique

    2009-04-01

    A new form of literature review has emerged, Mixed Studies Review (MSR). These reviews include qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods studies. In the present paper, we examine MSRs in health sciences, and provide guidance on processes that should be included and reported. However, there are no valid and usable criteria for concomitantly appraising the methodological quality of the qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods studies. To propose criteria for concomitantly appraising the methodological quality of qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods studies or study components. A three-step critical review was conducted. 2322 references were identified in MEDLINE, and their titles and abstracts were screened; 149 potentially relevant references were selected and the full-text papers were examined; 59 MSRs were retained and scrutinized using a deductive-inductive qualitative thematic data analysis. This revealed three types of MSR: convenience, reproducible, and systematic. Guided by a proposal, we conducted a qualitative thematic data analysis of the quality appraisal procedures used in the 17 systematic MSRs (SMSRs). Of 17 SMSRs, 12 showed clear quality appraisal procedures with explicit criteria but no SMSR used valid checklists to concomitantly appraise qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods studies. In two SMSRs, criteria were developed following a specific procedure. Checklists usually contained more criteria than needed. In four SMSRs, a reliability assessment was described or mentioned. While criteria for quality appraisal were usually based on descriptors that require specific methodological expertise (e.g., appropriateness), no SMSR described the fit between reviewers' expertise and appraised studies. Quality appraisal usually resulted in studies being ranked by methodological quality. A scoring system is proposed for concomitantly appraising the methodological quality of qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods studies for SMSRs. This

  8. How product trial changes quality perception of four new processed beef products.

    PubMed

    Saeed, Faiza; Grunert, Klaus G; Therkildsen, Margrethe

    2013-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is the quantitative analysis of the change in quality perception of four new processed beef products from pre to post trial phases. Based on the Total Food Quality Model, differences in pre and post-trial phases were measured using repeated measures technique for cue evaluation, quality evaluation and purchase motive fulfillment. For two of the tested products, trial resulted in a decline of the evaluation of cues, quality and purchase motive fulfillment compared to pre-trial expectations. For these products, positive expectations were created by giving information about ingredients and ways of processing, which were not confirmed during trial. For the other two products, evaluations on key sensory dimensions based on trial exceeded expectations, whereas the other evaluations remained unchanged. Several demographic factors influenced the pattern of results, notably age and gender, which may be due to underlying differences in previous experience. The study gives useful insights for testing of new processed meat products before market introduction. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Area production in supercritical, transitional mixing layers for reactive flow applications

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bellan, J.; Okong'o, N.

    2002-01-01

    An investigation of surface area production is conducted for supercritical mixing layers; the results are relevant to flame area evolution and fluid disintegration. In this study, the surface is chosen perpendicular to the mass fraction gradient.

  10. PREFACE: 4th International Conference on Safe Production and Use of Nanomaterials (Nanosafe2014)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tardif, F.; Damlencourt, J.-F.; Schuster, F.; Gaultier, V.

    2015-05-01

    This volume contains a collection of contributions presented at the 4th International Conference on Safe Production and Use of Nanomaterials (NANOSAFE 2014) held in Grenoble, France, from 18th to 20th November 2014. The issues of fast progress in the field of Nanosafety are up to the potential benefits that nanotechnology can bring to mankind. Making more efficient - more sustainable - easier to share mineral resources, increasing the yields of new energy technologies, enabling drugs that act selectively and locally are just few examples of the wide range of nanomaterial applications that currently benefit humanity. Nevertheless, the dynamic development of nanomaterials requires the adhesion from the general public who rightly demand major progresses in Nanosafety as a prerequisite. This is our exciting responsibility and challenge! Following the successful outcome of the three past international conferences on safe production and use of nanomaterials: Nanosafe 2008, 2010 and 2012, the organizing committee has the pleasure to welcoming you again to Minatec, Grenoble with some of the most famous specialists in the field. This year, two new topics have been added dealing with the "New Application of Nanomaterials" and "Nano-responsible Development" in addition to the usual issues addressed in previous Nanosafe conferences such as Expology, Detection and Characterization, Toxicology, Environmental Interactions, Nanomaterials Release, Life Cycle Analysis, Regulation and Standardization, Risk Management. The debates in 2012 proved highly successful so this formula has been kept in 2014 with 3 round tables: Nano-Responsible Development, Risks and Benefits for the Environment, Toxicology Progress. In this 4th edition, there were more than 330 registered participants from 28 different countries including 160 oral presentation covering the whole Nanosafety issues in 12 sessions, satellite workshops and round tables. This high number of participants makes this edition one of

  11. Morbidity and Mortality Conferences: A Narrative Review of Strategies to Prioritize Quality Improvement.

    PubMed

    Giesbrecht, Vanessa; Au, Selena

    2016-11-01

    The morbidity and mortality conference (MMC) provides a valuable opportunity to review patient care processes and safety concerns, aligning with a growing quality improvement (QI) mandate. Yet the structure, processes, and aims of many MMCs are often ill-defined. This review summarizes strategies employed by medical, surgical, and critical care departments in the development of patient safety-centered MMCs. A structured narrative review of literature was conducted using combinations of the search terms "morbidity and mortality conference(s)," "morbidity and mortality meetings," or "morbidity and mortality round(s)." The titles and abstracts of 250 returned articles were screened; 76 articles were reviewed in full, with 32 meeting the full inclusion criteria. The literature review elicited a number of methods used by medical, surgical, and critical care MMCs to emphasize QI and patient safety outcomes. A list of actionable changes made in each article was compiled. Five themes common to QI-centered MMCs were identified: (1) defining the role of the MMC, (2) involving stakeholders, (3) detecting and selecting appropriate cases for presentation, (4) structuring goal-directed discussion, and (5) forming recommendations and assigning follow-up. Innovative methods to pair adverse event screening with MMCs were superior to nonstructured voluntary reporting and case selection for overall morbidity detection. Structured case review, discussion, and follow-up were more likely to lead to implementing systems-based change, and interdisciplinary MMCs were associated with a greater likelihood of forming an action item. The modern patient safety-centered MMC shares common themes of practices that can be adopted by institutions looking to create a venue for analysis of care processes, a platform to launch QI initiatives, and a culture of safety. Copyright 2016 The Joint Commission.

  12. Public Policy on Ground-Water Quality Protection. Proceedings of a National Conference (Virginia Polytechnic Inst. and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia, April 13-16, 1977).

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kerns, Waldon R., Ed.

    This publication contains the papers presented at a National Conference on Ground Water Quality Protection Policy held in April of 1977. Paper titles include: (1) Magnitude of the Ground-Water Contamination Problem; (2) Limited Degredation as a Ground-Water Quality Policy; (3) Surface and Subsurface Mining: Policy Implications; (4) Oil Well…

  13. Second-order polynomial model to solve the least-cost lumber grade mix problem

    Treesearch

    Urs Buehlmann; Xiaoqiu Zuo; R. Edward Thomas

    2010-01-01

    Material costs when cutting solid wood parts from hardwood lumber for secondary wood products manufacturing account for 20 to 50 percent of final product cost. These costs can be minimized by proper selection of the lumber quality used. The lumber quality selection problem is referred to as the least-cost lumber grade mix problem in the industry. The objective of this...

  14. PREFACE: The 11th International Superconductive Electronics Conference (ISEC 07)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Miller, Donald L.; Wellstood, Fred; Donaldson, Gordon

    2007-11-01

    The 11th International Superconductive Electronics Conference (ISEC 07) was held in June 2007 in Washington, DC, USA. This special issue is a compendium of selected papers based on the technology presented at that meeting. ISEC, held on a biennial basis, traditionally rotates from Japan to Europe to the United States. The single exception to this rotation has been the 2003 conference which was held in Australia. This conference brings together the world's experts in superconductive electronics in a forum which is conducive to interaction among the participants with maximal interchange between the various topics. The conference this year was truly an international event with participation from 13 countries over six continents. The quality of presentations was also high. The conference witnessed the continued maturation of both digital/mixed signal electronics and SQUID-based instrumentation along with a number of novel devices. Of particular note was the transition of superconducting quantum computing research from a novel abstract concept to a broad-based research activity. The organizing committee was able to gather an exemplary group of invited speakers to share their results and visions for future progress. These presentations spanned both the subtopics of superconductor electronics and the history of the field. As I reflect on the efforts which went into making this conference a success, I must express my appreciation to many individuals and organizations, in no particular order. I would like to thank Northrop Grumman for their support for my activities as chair of the conference, both in terms of making my time available and for direct financial considerations. Centennial Conferences, as the conference organizer, provided invaluable guidance and administrative support. I would also like to acknowledge the support of the IEEE Council on Superconductivity, in particular in the persons of Moises Levy and John Spargo. I would be remiss if I did not thank John

  15. Fisheries and aquaculture industries involvement to control product health and quality safety to satisfy consumer-driven objectives on retail markets in Europe.

    PubMed

    Roth, Eva; Rosenthal, Harald

    2006-01-01

    Over the past years the export of agricultural and fishery products from developing countries has substantially increased to markets within the OECD. Retailers and importers are expanding their international operations to meet consumer demands for year-round delivery of products. Moreover, consumers have become increasingly concerned about the safety of food, including those derived from aquatic resources [FAO/NACA/WHO Joint Study Group, 1999. Report food safety issues associated with products from aquaculture. WHO Technical Report Series No 883: VII, pp. 1-55]. Governments and leading businesses are responding by imposing new safety regulations and standards to the international food system (e.g. HACCP, EUREP-GAP), product liability and labeling [Reilly, A., Howgate, P., Käferstein, F., 1997. Safety hazards and the application of HACCP in aquaculture. In: Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Fish Inspection and Quality Control: A Global Focus, Arlington, VA, 19-24 May 1996. Technomic Publishing, Lancaster, PA, pp. 353-373]. Initial concerns for imports of aquacultural products from developing to industrialized countries focussed on bacterial contamination [Buras, N. 1993. Microbial safety of produce from wastewater-fed aquaculture. In: Pullin, R.V.C., Rosenthal, H., MacLean, J.L.(Eds.), Proceedings of ICLARM Conferences, vol. 31, pp. 285-295]. Today, if trade opportunities are to be maintained, these countries must adapt to a full array of regulations and standards. This paper describes four scenarios in aquaculture and fishing product trade between developing countries and countries in the European Union.

  16. Quality of original and biosimilar epoetin products.

    PubMed

    Brinks, Vera; Hawe, Andrea; Basmeleh, Abdul H H; Joachin-Rodriguez, Liliana; Haselberg, Rob; Somsen, Govert W; Jiskoot, Wim; Schellekens, Huub

    2011-02-01

    To compare the quality of therapeutic erythropoietin (EPO) products, including two biosimilars, with respect to content, aggregation, isoform profile and potency. Two original products, Eprex (epoetin alpha) and Dynepo (epoetin delta), and two biosimilar products, Binocrit (epoetin alpha) and Retacrit (epoetin zeta), were compared using (1) high performance size exclusion chromatography, (2) ELISA, (3) SDS-PAGE, (4) capillary zone electrophoresis and (5) in-vivo potency. Tested EPO products differed in content, isoform composition, and potency. Of the tested products, the biosimilars have the same or even better quality as the originals. Especially, the potency of originals may significantly differ from the value on the label.

  17. Microalgal biohydrogen production considering light energy and mixing time as the two key features for scale-up.

    PubMed

    Oncel, S; Sabankay, M

    2012-10-01

    This study focuses on a scale-up procedure considering two vital parameters light energy and mixing for microalgae cultivation, taking Chlamydomonas reinhardtii as the model microorganism. Applying two stage hydrogen production protocol to 1L flat type and 2.5L tank type photobioreactors hydrogen production was investigated with constant light energy and mixing time. The conditions that provide the shortest transfer time to anaerobic culture (light energy; 2.96 kJ s(-1)m(-3) and mixing time; 1 min) and highest hydrogen production rate (light energy; 1.22 kJ s(-1)m(-3) and mixing time; 2.5 min) are applied to 5L photobioreactor. The final hydrogen production for 5L system after 192 h was measured as 195 ± 10 mL that is comparable with the other systems is a good validation for the scale-up procedure. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. Facility design consideration for continuous mix production of class 1.3 propellant

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Williamson, K. L.; Schirk, P. G.

    1994-01-01

    In November of 1989, NASA awarded the Advanced Solid Rocket Motor (ASRM) contract to Lockheed Missiles and Space Company (LMSC) for production of advanced solid rocket motors using the continuous mix process. Aerojet ASRM division (AAD) was selected as the facility operator and RUST International Corporation provided the engineering, procurement, and construction management services. The continuous mix process mandates that the mix and cast facilities be 'close-coupled' along with the premix facilities, creating unique and challenging requirements for the facility designer. The classical approach to handling energetic materials-division into manageable quantities, segregation, and isolation-was not available due to these process requirements and quantities involved. This paper provides a description of the physical facilities, the continuous mix process, and discusses the monitoring and detection techniques used to mitigate hazards and prevent an incident.

  19. Quality Programs for Children and Families: Multiple Perspectives. Proceedings of the Annual Conference on Early Childhood Education (6th, Duluth, Minnesota, October 3-4, 1986).

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sword, Jeane, Ed.

    Presented are the keynote address and sectional presentations made at a conference on early childhood education. Speakers offered various perspectives on high quality programs for children and families. The keynote address, given by Bettye Caldwell, concerned marketing quality programs for children, exploring internal and external deterrents,…

  20. Content and reactivity to product perfumes in fragrance mix positive and negative eczema patients. A study of perfumes used in toiletries and skin-care products.

    PubMed

    Johansen, J D; Rastogi, S C; Andersen, K E; Menné, T

    1997-06-01

    The aim of the study was to investigate the elicitation potential of perfumes from 17 commonly sold lower-price cosmetic products. 8 of the perfumes were from stay-on cosmetics and 9 were from wash-off cosmetics. Each perfume was tested in 500 consecutive eczema patients, who also were tested with the European standard patch test series. 4.2% reacted to 1 or more of the wash-off product perfumes and 3.2% to 1 or more of the stay-on product perfumes. Concordant positive reactions between the fragrance mix and the product perfumes were found in 81.3% of positive reactions to the stay-on product perfumes and in 52.4% of the reactions to the wash-off product perfumes. Compared to the fragrance mix alone, only 1 additional case of contact allergy to the product perfumes was detected by balsam of Peru. Chemical analysis revealed that between 1 and 5 of the chemically-defined constituents of the fragrance mix were present in all of the product perfumes. Geraniol was found in 12 of the 17 perfumes and was most often detected. The concentration of the target fragrance materials ranged from 0.005%-1.35 w/v%. It is concluded that the allergenic constituents of the fragrance mix are impossible to avoid if perfumed cosmetics are used. Furthermore, patients suspected of perfume allergy need to be tested with their own perfumed products, as far from all cases of perfume allergy are detected by the fragrance mix and/or balsam of Peru in the European standard patch test series.

  1. What Counts as Quality in Education? Australian College of Educators (ACE) National Conference Proceedings (Adelaide, Australia, September 11-12, 2014)

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ghirelli, Paola S., Ed.

    2014-01-01

    The 2014 Australian College of Educators (ACE) National Conference was held September 11-12 in Adelaide, Australia, with the theme, "What counts as quality in education?" There has been concern with a general downward trend in Australia's performance on international measures of student achievement, but there is equal concern over the…

  2. Preservice Teachers' Perceptions of Quality in Online Education Courses: A Mixed Methods Examination

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    McCormick Myers, Myrell Denice

    2012-01-01

    The purpose of this mixed methods study was to examine preservice teacher education candidates' perceptions of quality in online education courses within a regional comprehensive university located in Texas. The research questions also addressed students' perceived efficacy in their level of preparedness to: engage in field experiences;…

  3. Production of dried shrimp mixed with turmeric and salt by Spouted Bed technique enter the rectangular chamber.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Thanthong, P.; Mustafa, Y.; Ngamrungroj, D.

    2017-09-01

    Today, dried shrimp in the market were refused food colour and drying until shrimp are colourful and tasty. Meanwhile, Community groups, women’s health trying to produce food products come from herbs. As an alternative to consumers. The production process is also a traditional way to dry. In order to extend the shelf life longer. Sometimes, potential risks, both in quality and quantity of products. As a result, consumers are enormous. Thus, this research aims to study the possibility to produce shrimp dried mixed with turmeric and salt. Then dried shrimp mixed with turmeric and salt to keep up the quality criteria of the Food and Drug Administration-FDA It can reduce the risk of the consumer and can keep up in a kitchen Thailand. When buying shrimp from the fisherman’s boat Will be made clear, clean impurities and shaking the sand to dry. Prepare a mixture of turmeric and salt. The shrimp were dipped into a beef with stirrer for 3 minutes. And scoop up centrifugal shrimp with dried. Measurement of initial moisture content averaging 78%wb. Then drying technique Spouted enter the rectangular chamber a continuous manner. Until average moisture content to 17%wb. The air temperature in the drying chamber at 180 °C and hot air speed 4.5 m/s, a state heat transfer Mass and moisture within the shrimp. In chamber when drying, the shrimp have moved freely behaviour can spit water out faster does not burn. Shaving legs of shrimp shell fragments lightweight is sorting out the top of drying chamber. Private shrimp were dried out to the front of the quad drying chamber. Power consumption 27.5 MJ/kg, divided into electrical energy 12.3 MJ/kg and thermal energy is 15.2 MJ/kg. The hot air comes from burning LPG gas burner with dual automatic. And can adjustable to room temperature drying characteristics modulation setting.

  4. Effect of Mixed Systems on Crop Productivity

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Senturklu, Songul; Landblom, Douglas; Cihacek, Larry; Brevik, Eric

    2017-04-01

    The goals of this non-irrigated research has been to determine the effect of mixed systems integration on crop, soil, and beef cattle production in the northern Great Plains region of the United States. Over a 5-year period, growing spring wheat (HRSW-C) continuously year after year was compared to a 5-year crop rotation that included spring wheat (HRSW-R), cover crop (dual crop consisting of winter triticale/hairy vetch seeded in the fall and harvested for hay followed by a 7-species cover crop that was seeded in June after hay harvest), forage corn, field pea/barley, and sunflower. Control 5-year HRSW yield was 2690 kg/ha compared to 2757 kg/ha for HRSW grown in rotation. Available soil nitrogen (N) is often the most important limitation for crop production. Expensive fertilizer inputs were reduced in this study due to the mixed system's complementarity in which the rotation system that included beef cattle grazing sustained N availability and increased nutrient cycling, which had a positive effect on all crops grown in the rotation. Growing HRSW continuously requires less intensive management and in this research was 14.5% less profitable. Whereas, when crop management increased and complementing crops were grown in rotation to produce crops and provide feed for grazing livestock, soil nutrient cycling improved. Increased nutrient cycling increased crop rotation yields and yearling beef cattle steers that grazing annual forages in the rotation gain more body weight than similar steers grazing NGP native range. Results of this long-term research will be presented in a PICO format for participant discussion.

  5. The impact of biopreservatives and storage temperature in the quality and safety of minimally processed mixed vegetables for soup.

    PubMed

    Alvarez, María V; Ponce, Alejandra G; Mazzucotelli, Cintia A; Moreira, María R

    2015-03-30

    The combined effects of bioactive agents (tea tree essential oil, propolis extract and gallic acid) and storage temperature on the microbiological and sensory quality of fresh-cut mixed vegetables for soup (celery, leek and butternut squash) were studied with the objective of preserving its quality and safety. Refrigeration temperature was confirmed as the main factor to limit the growth of spoilage and pathogenic microorganisms. Biopreservatives applied on mixed vegetables were effective only when combined with optimal refrigeration temperature (5 °C). Bioactive compounds showed slight effectiveness in controlling the microbiota present in mixed vegetables, although coliforms were greatly reduced by gallic acid and propolis treatments, achieving 0.5-2 log unit reductions during storage. Also, these agents showed antimicrobial activity against endogenous Escherichia coli and inoculated E. coli O157:H7, exerting a bacteriostatic effect and reducing population counts by 0.9-1.2 log CFU g(-1) at 10 days of refrigerated storage. The combination of propolis treatment with refrigerated storage conditions effectively preserved the sensory quality and prolonged the sensory shelf life of fresh-cut mixed vegetables by 3 days. The use of natural agents such as propolis extract to preserve the quality and safety of mixed vegetables for soup might be an interesting option to address the concerns of the consumer about the use of synthetic chemical antimicrobials potentially harmful to health. © 2014 Society of Chemical Industry.

  6. Investing in Our Future: The Early Years. First Singapore Conference on Preschool Education: Promoting Quality Care and Education for Preschoolers (Singapore, December 2-3, 1998).

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tan-Niam, Carolyn, Ed.; Ling, Quah May, Ed.

    Informed by current thinking and supported by data gathered in Singapore, this volume compiles a selection of papers presented at the First Singapore Conference on Preschool Education: Promoting Quality Care and Education for Preschoolers. The papers are: (1) "Introduction: Issues in Quality Provision for Preschool Care and Education"…

  7. Competition and product quality in the supermarket industry.

    PubMed

    Matsa, David A

    2011-01-01

    This article analyzes the effect of competition on a supermarket firm's incentive to provide product quality. In the supermarket industry, product availability is an important measure of quality. Using U.S. Consumer Price Index microdata to track inventory shortfalls, I find that stores facing more intense competition have fewer shortfalls. Competition from Walmart—the most significant shock to industry market structure in half a century—decreased shortfalls among large chains by about a third. The risk that customers will switch stores appears to provide competitors with a strong incentive to invest in product quality.

  8. Structural diversity promotes productivity of mixed, uneven-aged forests in southwestern Germany.

    PubMed

    Dănescu, Adrian; Albrecht, Axel T; Bauhus, Jürgen

    2016-10-01

    Forest diversity-productivity relationships have been intensively investigated in recent decades. However, few studies have considered the interplay between species and structural diversity in driving productivity. We analyzed these factors using data from 52 permanent plots in southwestern Germany with more than 53,000 repeated tree measurements. We used basal area increment as a proxy for productivity and hypothesized that: (1) structural diversity would increase tree and stand productivity, (2) diversity-productivity relationships would be weaker for species diversity than for structural diversity, and (3) species diversity would also indirectly impact stand productivity via changes in size structure. We measured diversity using distance-independent indices. We fitted separate linear mixed-effects models for fir, spruce and beech at the tree level, whereas at the stand level we pooled all available data. We tested our third hypothesis using structural equation modeling. Structural and species diversity acted as direct and independent drivers of stand productivity, with structural diversity being a slightly better predictor. Structural diversity, but not species diversity, had a significant, albeit asymmetric, effect on tree productivity. The functioning of structurally diverse, mixed forests is influenced by both structural and species diversity. These sources of trait diversity contribute to increased vertical stratification and crown plasticity, which in turn diminish competitive interferences and lead to more densely packed canopies per unit area. Our research highlights the positive effects of species diversity and structural diversity on forest productivity and ecosystem dynamics.

  9. Mixing and turbulent mixing in fluids, plasma and materials: summary of works presented at the 3rd International Conference on Turbulent Mixing and Beyond

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gauthier, Serge; Keane, Christopher J.; Niemela, Joseph J.; Abarzhi, Snezhana I.

    2013-07-01

    Mixing and turbulent mixing are non-equilibrium processes that occur in a broad variety of processes in fluids, plasmas and materials. The processes can be natural or artificial, their characteristic scales can be astrophysical or atomistic, and energy densities can be low or high. Understanding the fundamental aspects of turbulent mixing is necessary to comprehend the dynamics of supernovae and accretion discs, stellar non-Boussinesq and magneto-convection, mantle-lithosphere tectonics and volcanic eruptions, atmospheric and oceanographic flows in geophysics, and premixed and non-premixed combustion. It is crucial for the development of the methods of control in technological applications, including mixing mitigation in inertial confinement and magnetic fusion, and mixing enhancement in reactive flows, as well as material transformation under the action of high strain rates. It can improve our knowledge of realistic turbulent processes at low energy density involving walls, unsteady transport, interfaces and vortices, as well as high energy density hydrodynamics including strong shocks, explosions, blast waves and supersonic flows. A deep understanding of mixing and turbulent mixing requires one to go above and beyond canonical approaches and demands further enhancements in the quality and information capacity of experimental and numerical data sets, and in the methods of theoretical analysis of continuous dynamics and kinetics. This has the added potential then of bringing the experiment, numerical modelling, theoretical analysis and data processing to a new level of standards. At the same time, mixing and turbulent mixing being one of the most formidable and multi-faceted problems of modern physics and mathematics, is well open for a curious mind. In this article we briefly review various aspects of turbulent mixing, and present a summary of over 70 papers that were discussed at the third International Conference on 'Turbulent Mixing and Beyond', TMB-2011, that

  10. Intelligent Systems Approaches to Product Sound Quality Analysis

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pietila, Glenn M.

    As a product market becomes more competitive, consumers become more discriminating in the way in which they differentiate between engineered products. The consumer often makes a purchasing decision based on the sound emitted from the product during operation by using the sound to judge quality or annoyance. Therefore, in recent years, many sound quality analysis tools have been developed to evaluate the consumer preference as it relates to a product sound and to quantify this preference based on objective measurements. This understanding can be used to direct a product design process in order to help differentiate the product from competitive products or to establish an impression on consumers regarding a product's quality or robustness. The sound quality process is typically a statistical tool that is used to model subjective preference, or merit score, based on objective measurements, or metrics. In this way, new product developments can be evaluated in an objective manner without the laborious process of gathering a sample population of consumers for subjective studies each time. The most common model used today is the Multiple Linear Regression (MLR), although recently non-linear Artificial Neural Network (ANN) approaches are gaining popularity. This dissertation will review publicly available published literature and present additional intelligent systems approaches that can be used to improve on the current sound quality process. The focus of this work is to address shortcomings in the current paired comparison approach to sound quality analysis. This research will propose a framework for an adaptive jury analysis approach as an alternative to the current Bradley-Terry model. The adaptive jury framework uses statistical hypothesis testing to focus on sound pairings that are most interesting and is expected to address some of the restrictions required by the Bradley-Terry model. It will also provide a more amicable framework for an intelligent systems approach

  11. Mixed integer simulation optimization for optimal hydraulic fracturing and production of shale gas fields

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Li, J. C.; Gong, B.; Wang, H. G.

    2016-08-01

    Optimal development of shale gas fields involves designing a most productive fracturing network for hydraulic stimulation processes and operating wells appropriately throughout the production time. A hydraulic fracturing network design-determining well placement, number of fracturing stages, and fracture lengths-is defined by specifying a set of integer ordered blocks to drill wells and create fractures in a discrete shale gas reservoir model. The well control variables such as bottom hole pressures or production rates for well operations are real valued. Shale gas development problems, therefore, can be mathematically formulated with mixed-integer optimization models. A shale gas reservoir simulator is used to evaluate the production performance for a hydraulic fracturing and well control plan. To find the optimal fracturing design and well operation is challenging because the problem is a mixed integer optimization problem and entails computationally expensive reservoir simulation. A dynamic simplex interpolation-based alternate subspace (DSIAS) search method is applied for mixed integer optimization problems associated with shale gas development projects. The optimization performance is demonstrated with the example case of the development of the Barnett Shale field. The optimization results of DSIAS are compared with those of a pattern search algorithm.

  12. 21 CFR 184.1027 - Mixed carbohydrase and protease enzyme product.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-04-01

    ... in § 170.3(o)(9) of this chapter, to hydrolyze proteins or carbohydrates. (2) The ingredient is used... beverages, as defined in § 170.3(n)(2) of this chapter, candy, nutritive sweeteners, and protein... 21 Food and Drugs 3 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Mixed carbohydrase and protease enzyme product...

  13. 21 CFR 184.1027 - Mixed carbohydrase and protease enzyme product.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-04-01

    ... in § 170.3(o)(9) of this chapter, to hydrolyze proteins or carbohydrates. (2) The ingredient is used... beverages, as defined in § 170.3(n)(2) of this chapter, candy, nutritive sweeteners, and protein... 21 Food and Drugs 3 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Mixed carbohydrase and protease enzyme product...

  14. 21 CFR 184.1027 - Mixed carbohydrase and protease enzyme product.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-04-01

    ... in § 170.3(o)(9) of this chapter, to hydrolyze proteins or carbohydrates. (2) The ingredient is used... beverages, as defined in § 170.3(n)(2) of this chapter, candy, nutritive sweeteners, and protein... 21 Food and Drugs 3 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Mixed carbohydrase and protease enzyme product...

  15. 21 CFR 184.1027 - Mixed carbohydrase and protease enzyme product.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-04-01

    ... in § 170.3(o)(9) of this chapter, to hydrolyze proteins or carbohydrates. (2) The ingredient is used... beverages, as defined in § 170.3(n)(2) of this chapter, candy, nutritive sweeteners, and protein... 21 Food and Drugs 3 2010-04-01 2009-04-01 true Mixed carbohydrase and protease enzyme product. 184...

  16. 75 FR 51825 - Quality and Compliance in Merging and Emerging Cultures; Public Conference

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-08-23

    ... taxes. Reservations can be made on a space and rate availability basis. Registration: Attendees are.... Conference space will be filled in order of receipt of registration. Those accepted for the conference will... available on a space available basis on each day of the public conference beginning at 7 a.m. on Monday...

  17. An adjoint-based framework for maximizing mixing in binary fluids

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Eggl, Maximilian; Schmid, Peter

    2017-11-01

    Mixing in the inertial, but laminar parameter regime is a common application in a wide range of industries. Enhancing the efficiency of mixing processes thus has a fundamental effect on product quality, material homogeneity and, last but not least, production costs. In this project, we address mixing efficiency in the above mentioned regime (Reynolds number Re = 1000 , Peclet number Pe = 1000) by developing and demonstrating an algorithm based on nonlinear adjoint looping that minimizes the variance of a passive scalar field which models our binary Newtonian fluids. The numerical method is based on the FLUSI code (Engels et al. 2016), a Fourier pseudo-spectral code, which we modified and augmented by scalar transport and adjoint equations. Mixing is accomplished by moving stirrers which are numerically modeled using a penalization approach. In our two-dimensional simulations we consider rotating circular and elliptic stirrers and extract optimal mixing strategies from the iterative scheme. The case of optimizing shape and rotational speed of the stirrers will be demonstrated.

  18. Abiotic and biotic determinants of coarse woody productivity in temperate mixed forests.

    PubMed

    Yuan, Zuoqiang; Ali, Arshad; Wang, Shaopeng; Gazol, Antonio; Freckleton, Robert; Wang, Xugao; Lin, Fei; Ye, Ji; Zhou, Li; Hao, Zhanqing; Loreau, Michel

    2018-07-15

    Forests play an important role in regulating the global carbon cycle. Yet, how abiotic (i.e. soil nutrients) and biotic (i.e. tree diversity, stand structure and initial biomass) factors simultaneously contribute to aboveground biomass (coarse woody) productivity, and how the relative importance of these factors changes over succession remain poorly studied. Coarse woody productivity (CWP) was estimated as the annual aboveground biomass gain of stems using 10-year census data in old growth and secondary forests (25-ha and 4.8-ha, respectively) in northeast China. Boosted regression tree (BRT) model was used to evaluate the relative contribution of multiple metrics of tree diversity (taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic diversity and trait composition as well as stand structure attributes), stand initial biomass and soil nutrients on productivity in the studied forests. Our results showed that community-weighted mean of leaf phosphorus content, initial stand biomass and soil nutrients were the three most important individual predictors for CWP in secondary forest. Instead, initial stand biomass, rather than diversity and functional trait composition (vegetation quality) was the most parsimonious predictor of CWP in old growth forest. By comparing the results from secondary and old growth forest, the summed relative contribution of trait composition and soil nutrients on productivity decreased as those of diversity indices and initial biomass increased, suggesting the stronger effect of diversity and vegetation quantity over time. Vegetation quantity, rather than diversity and soil nutrients, is the main driver of forest productivity in temperate mixed forest. Our results imply that diversity effect for productivity in natural forests may not be so important as often suggested, at least not during the later stage of forest succession. This finding suggests that as a change of the importance of different divers of productivity, the environmentally driven filtering

  19. Measuring Software Product Quality: The ISO 25000 Series and CMMI

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2004-06-14

    performance objectives” covers objectives and requirements for product quality, service quality , and process performance. Process performance objectives...such that product quality, service quality , and process performance attributes are measurable and controlled throughout the project (internal and

  20. Report from the Second International Conference of Traditional and Complementary Medicine on Health 2015

    PubMed Central

    Isidoro, Ciro; Huang, Chia-Chi; Sheen, Lee-Yan

    2016-01-01

    The Second International Conference of Traditional and Complementary Medicine on Health was held from October 24th through 27th at the GIS National Taiwan University Convention Center in Taipei. Twenty-seven invited speakers, representative of fourteen Countries, delivered their lecture in front of an audience of more than two hundreds of attendees. In addition, a poster exhibition with seventy-two presenters completed the scientific sessions. The leitmotif of the Conference was to promote a common platform in which all medical knowledge is integrated to improve the health care system. Traditional medicine and complementary medicine are characterized by a holistic approach to prevent and cure diseases, making use of natural products and/or physical manipulations. In this context, the Conference emphasized the importance of the Quality Control and of standardized methods for the authentication, preparation and characterization of the herbal products and nutrient supplements, as well as the need for controlled clinical trials and for experimental studies to demonstrate the efficacy and to understand the underlying mechanisms of the preventive and curative treatments. In this report, we highlight the novel findings and the perspectives in Traditional and Complementary Medicine (TCM; 傳統暨互補醫學 chuán tǒng jì hù bǔ yī xué) that emerged during the conference. PMID:26870692

  1. Temperature dependence of bioelectrochemical CO2 conversion and methane production with a mixed-culture biocathode.

    PubMed

    Yang, Hou-Yun; Bao, Bai-Ling; Liu, Jing; Qin, Yuan; Wang, Yi-Ran; Su, Kui-Zu; Han, Jun-Cheng; Mu, Yang

    2018-02-01

    This study evaluated the effect of temperature on methane production by CO 2 reduction during microbial electrosynthesis (MES) with a mixed-culture biocathode. Reactor performance, in terms of the amount and rate of methane production, current density, and coulombic efficiency, was compared at different temperatures. The microbial properties of the biocathode at each temperature were also analyzed by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The results showed that the optimum temperature for methane production from CO 2 reduction in MES with a mixed-culture cathode was 50°C, with the highest amount and rate of methane production of 2.06±0.13mmol and 0.094±0.01mmolh -1 , respectively. In the mixed-culture biocathode MES, the coulombic efficiency of methane formation was within a range of 19.15±2.31% to 73.94±2.18% due to by-product formation at the cathode, including volatile fatty acids and hydrogen. Microbial analysis demonstrated that temperature had an impact on the diversity of microbial communities in the biofilm that formed on the MES cathode. Specifically, the hydrogenotrophic methanogen Methanobacterium became the predominant archaea for methane production from CO 2 reduction, while the abundance of the aceticlastic methanogen Methanosaeta decreased with increased temperature. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  2. PREFACE: Nanosafe 2012: International Conferences on Safe Production and Use of Nanomaterials

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tardif, François

    2013-04-01

    Welcome from the organizers The rapidly developing field of nanotechnology opens up many exciting opportunities and benefits for new materials with significantly improved properties as well as some revolutionary applications in the fields of energy, environment, medicine, etc. These new materials potentially pave the way to considerable innovations in many industries of the 21st century although associated risks must be perfectly under control for workers, consumers and the environment. So, one can easily understand why Nanosafety is now considered as a specific new scientific area, gaining in importance and maturity every day. Following the successful outcome of the two past international conferences on the safe production and use of nanomaterials: Nanosafe 2008 and 2010, the organizing committee has the pleasure of welcoming again to Grenoble some of the most famous specialists of the field in the world. In addition to the standard issues addressed in previous nanosafe conferences such as Toxicology, Eco-toxicology, Expology, Detection, Life Cycle Analysis, Regulation and Standardization, new topics of great interest will be dealt with this year, concerning Governance and practical Risk Management for OSH experts and Societal issues. In order to enhance the exchanges and conviviality three debates werw organized around Nano Governance, Toxicology and Ethics. We hope that you will appreciate this new Nanosafe edition like the previous ones. This is your Nanosafe conference, please enjoy. The Nanosafe conference organisers François Tardif and Frédéric Shuster Management Vanessa Gaultier Francois TardifFrederic ShusterVanessa Gaultier François TardifFrédéric Shuster Vanessa Gaultier Local Organizing Committee Vanessa GAULTIER (CEA) François TARDIF (CEA) Dominique BAGUET (CEA) Frédédric SHUSTER (CEA) Yves SICARD (CEA) Catherine DURAND (CEA) Didier MOLKO (MINATEC) International Scientific Committee Chair: Frédéric SCHUSTER (CEA, FR) François TARDIF (CEA

  3. Conference report: formulating better medicines for children: 4th European Paediatric Formulation Initiative conference.

    PubMed

    Walsh, Jennifer; Mills, Simon

    2013-01-01

    The fourth annual European Paediatric Formulation Initiative (EuPFI) conference on Formulating Better Medicines for Children was held on 19-20 September 2012 at the Institute of Molecular Genetics Congress Centre, Prague, Czech Republic. The 2-day conference concentrated on the latest advances, challenges and opportunities for developing medicinal products and administration devices for pediatric use, both from European and US perspectives. It was aimed specifically at providing exposure to emerging practical applications, and for illustrating remedies utilized by pediatric drug-development teams to overcome hurdles faced in developing medicines for pediatric patients. The conference format included plenary talks, focus sessions on each of the EuPFI work streams (extemporaneous preparations, excipients, pediatric administration devices, taste masking and taste assessment, age-appropriate formulations), case studies, soapbox sessions and a parallel poster display. This conference report summarizes the keynote lectures and also gives a flavor of other presentations and posters from the conference.

  4. Pharmaceutical quality by design: product and process development, understanding, and control.

    PubMed

    Yu, Lawrence X

    2008-04-01

    The purpose of this paper is to discuss the pharmaceutical Quality by Design (QbD) and describe how it can be used to ensure pharmaceutical quality. The QbD was described and some of its elements identified. Process parameters and quality attributes were identified for each unit operation during manufacture of solid oral dosage forms. The use of QbD was contrasted with the evaluation of product quality by testing alone. The QbD is a systemic approach to pharmaceutical development. It means designing and developing formulations and manufacturing processes to ensure predefined product quality. Some of the QbD elements include: Defining target product quality profile; Designing product and manufacturing processes; Identifying critical quality attributes, process parameters, and sources of variability; Controlling manufacturing processes to produce consistent quality over time. Using QbD, pharmaceutical quality is assured by understanding and controlling formulation and manufacturing variables. Product testing confirms the product quality. Implementation of QbD will enable transformation of the chemistry, manufacturing, and controls (CMC) review of abbreviated new drug applications (ANDAs) into a science-based pharmaceutical quality assessment.

  5. 46 CFR 164.120-11 - Production quality control requirements.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... 46 Shipping 6 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Production quality control requirements. 164.120-11... Rescue Boats § 164.120-11 Production quality control requirements. The resin manufacturer must institute a quality control procedure to ensure that all Coast Guard-accepted resin is produced to the same...

  6. 46 CFR 164.120-11 - Production quality control requirements.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... 46 Shipping 6 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Production quality control requirements. 164.120-11... Rescue Boats § 164.120-11 Production quality control requirements. The resin manufacturer must institute a quality control procedure to ensure that all Coast Guard-accepted resin is produced to the same...

  7. 46 CFR 164.120-11 - Production quality control requirements.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... 46 Shipping 6 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Production quality control requirements. 164.120-11... Rescue Boats § 164.120-11 Production quality control requirements. The resin manufacturer must institute a quality control procedure to ensure that all Coast Guard-accepted resin is produced to the same...

  8. PREFACE: 31st UIT (Italian Union of Thermo-fluid-dynamics) Heat Transfer Conference 2013

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Vitali, Luigi; Niro, Alfonso; Colombo, Luigi; Sotgia, Giorgio

    2014-04-01

    The annual Conference of the ''Unione Italiana di Termofluidodinamica'' (UIT) aims at promoting cooperation in the field of heat transfer and thermal sciences, by bringing together scientists and engineers working in related areas. The 31st UIT Conference was held in Moltrasio (Como), Italy, 25-27 June, 2013 at the Grand Hotel Imperiale. The response has been enthusiastic, with more than 70 quality contributions from 224 authors on heat transfer related topics: natural, forced and mixed convection, conduction, radiation, multi-phase fluid dynamics and interface phenomena, computational fluid dynamics, micro- and nano-scales, efficiency in energy systems, environmental technologies and buildings. To encourage the debate, the Conference Program has scheduled ample poster sessions and invited lectures from the best experts in the field along with a few of the most talented researchers. Keynote Lectures were given by Professor Roberto Mauri (University of Pisa), Professor Lounés Tadrist (Polytech Marseille) and Professor Maurizio Quadrio (Politecnico di Milano). This special volume collects a selection of the scientific contributions discussed during this conference; these works give a good overview of the state-of-the art Italian research in the field of Heat Transfer related topics. I would like to thank sincerely the authors for presenting their works at the conference and in this special issue. I would also like to extend my thanks to the Scientific Committee and the authors for their accurate review process of each paper for this special issue. Special thanks go to the organizing committee and to our sponsors. As a professor of Politecnico di Milano, let me say I am very proud to have been the chair of this conference in the 150th anniversary of my university. Professor Alfonso Niro Details of organizers, sponsors and committees, as well as further information, are available in the PDF

  9. Improving methane yield and quality via co-digestion of cow dung mixed with food waste.

    PubMed

    Awasthi, Sanjeev Kumar; Joshi, Rutu; Dhar, Hiya; Verma, Shivpal; Awasthi, Mukesh Kumar; Varjani, Sunita; Sarsaiya, Surendra; Zhang, Zengqiang; Kumar, Sunil

    2018-03-01

    Methane (CH 4 ) production and quality were enhanced by the co-digestion of cow dung and food waste (FW) mixed with organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) under optimized conditions in bench and semi continuous-scale mode for a period of 30 days. A bacterium capable of high yield of CH 4 was enriched and isolated by employing activated sewage sludge as the inoculums. The thirteen bacterial isolates were identified through morphological and biochemical tests. Gas chromatography was used to analyze the chemical compositions of the generated biogas. CH 4 yields were significantly higher during co-digestion of Run II (7.59 L) than Run I (3.7 L). Therefore, the co-digestion of FW with OFMSW and Run II was observed to be a competent method for biogas conversion from organic waste resources. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. Conference Summary: First International Conference on Global Warming and the Next Ice Age

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Wetzel, Peter J.; Chylek, Petr; Lesins, Glen; Starr, David OC. (Technical Monitor)

    2002-01-01

    The First International Conference on Global Warming and the Next Ice Age was convened in Halifax, Nova Scotia, August 19-24, 2001. The conference program began each day with a 30 minute live classical music performances of truly international quality before the beginning business. Ample time for panel discussions was also scheduled. The general public was invited to attend and participate in a special evening panel session on the last day of the conference. The unusual and somewhat provocative title of the conference was designed to attract diverse views on global climate change. This summary attempts to accurately reflect the tone and flavor of the lively discussions which resulted. Presentations ranged from factors forcing current climate to those in effect across the span of time from the Proterozoic "snowball Earth" epoch to 50,000 years in the future. Although, as should be expected, attendees at the conference arrived with opinions on some of the controversial issues regarding climate change, and no-one openly admitted to a 'conversion' from their initial point of view, the interdisciplinary nature of the formal presentations, poster discussions, panels, and abundant informal discourse helped to place the attendees' personal perspectives into a broader, more diversified context.

  11. Productivity, quality, and patient satisfaction: comparison of part-time and full-time primary care physicians.

    PubMed

    Fairchild, D G; McLoughlin, K S; Gharib, S; Horsky, J; Portnow, M; Richter, J; Gagliano, N; Bates, D W

    2001-10-01

    Although few data are available, many believe that part-time primary care physicians (PCPs) are less productive and provide lower quality care than full-time PCPs. Some insurers exclude part-time PCPs from their provider networks. To compare productivity, quality of preventive care, patient satisfaction, and risk-adjusted resource utilization of part-time and full-time PCPs. Retrospective cohort study. Boston. PCPs affiliated with 2 academic outpatient primary care networks. PCP productivity, patient satisfaction, resource utilization, and compliance with screening guidelines. Part-time PCP productivity was greater than that of full-time PCPs (2.1 work relative value units (RVUs)/bookable clinical hour versus 1.3 work RVUs/bookable clinical hour, P< .01). A similar proportion of part-time PCPs (80%) and full-time PCPs (75%) met targets for mammography, Pap smears, and cholesterol screening (P = .67). After adjusting for clinical case mix, practice location, gender, board certification status, and years in practice, resource utilization of part-time PCPs (138 dollars [95% confidence interval (CI), 108 dollars to 167 dollars]) was similar to that of full-time PCPs (139 dollars [95% CI, 108 dollars to 170 dollars], P = .92). Patient satisfaction was similar for part-time and full-time PCPs. In these academic primary care practices, rates of patient satisfaction, compliance with screening guidelines, and resource utilization were similar for part-time PCPs compared to full-time PCPs. Productivity per clinical hour was markedly higher for part-time PCPs. Despite study limitations, these data suggest that academic part-time PCPs are at least as efficient as full-time PCPs and that the quality of their work is similar.

  12. Linking phenology and biomass productivity in South Dakota mixed-grass prairie

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Rigge, Matthew; Smart, Alexander; Wylie, Bruce; Gilmanov, Tagir; Johnson, Patricia

    2013-01-01

    Assessing the health of rangeland ecosystems based solely on annual biomass production does not fully describe plant community condition; the phenology of production can provide inferences on species composition, successional stage, and grazing impacts. We evaluate the productivity and phenology of western South Dakota mixed-grass prairie using 2000 to 2008 Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) satellite imagery at 250 m spatial resolution. Growing season NDVI images were integrated weekly to produce time-integrated NDVI (TIN), a proxy of total annual biomass production, and integrated seasonally to represent annual production by cool (C3) and warm (C4) season species. Additionally, a variety of phenological indicators including cool season percentage of TIN were derived from the seasonal profiles of NDVI. Cool season percentage and TIN were combined to generate vegetation classes, which served as proxies of plant community condition. TIN decreased with precipitation from east to west across the study area. Alternatively, cool season percentage increased from east to west, following patterns related to the reliability (interannual coefficient of variation [CV]) and quantity of mid-summer precipitation. Cool season TIN averaged 76.8% of total. Seasonal accumulation of TIN corresponded closely (R2 > 0.90) to that of gross photosynthesis data from a carbon flux tower. Field-collected biomass and community composition data were strongly related to the TIN and cool season percentage products. The patterns of vegetation classes were responsive to topographic, edaphic, and land management influences on plant communities. Accurate maps of biomass production, cool/warm season composition, and vegetation classes can improve the efficiency of land management by adjusting stocking rates and season of use to maximize rangeland productivity and achieve conservation objectives. Further, our results clarify the spatial and

  13. National Conference on Wood Transportation Structures

    Treesearch

    Michael A. Ritter; Sheila Rimal Duwadi; Paula D. Hilbrich Lee

    1996-01-01

    The Federal Highway Administration and the USDA Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory, jointly sponsored the National Conference on Wood Transportation Structures, October 23-25, 1996, in Madison, Wisconsin. This was a direct result of 5 years of cooperation in conducting research related to timber transportation structures. The objective of the conference was to...

  14. A comparison of self-reported quality of life for an Australian haemodialysis and haemodiafiltration cohort.

    PubMed

    Hill, Kathleen E; Kim, Susan; Crail, Susan; Elias, Tony J; Whittington, Tiffany

    2017-08-01

    Haemodiafiltration (HDF) has been widely studied for evidence of superior outcomes in comparison with conventional haemodialysis (HD), and there is increasing interest in determining if HDF confers any benefit in relation to quality of life. Studies have been conducted with randomized incident patients; however, little is known regarding HDF and quality of life for prevalent patients. This study examined and compared self-reported quality of life at two time points, 12 months apart in a cohort of satellite HD and HDF patients, using a disease specific questionnaire to determine if HDF conferred an advantage. A longitudinal study with a linear mixed-effect model measuring quality of life in a cohort of 171 patients (HD, n = 85, HDF, n = 86) in seven South Australian satellite dialysis centres. Factors associated with significant reduction across the Kidney Disease Quality Of Life™ domains measured were younger age (- 20 to - 29) and comorbid diabetes (- 4.8 to - 11.1). HDF was not associated with moderation of this reduction at either time point (P > 0.05). Baseline physical functioning was reported as very low (median 33.9) and further reduced at time point two. In addition, dialysing for more than 12 h per week in a satellite dialysis unit was associated with reduced quality of life in relation to the burden of kidney disease (- 13.69). This study has demonstrated that younger age and comorbid diabetes were responsible for a statistically significant reduction in quality of life, and HDF did not confer any advantage. © 2016 Asian Pacific Society of Nephrology.

  15. 21 CFR 184.1027 - Mixed carbohydrase and protease enzyme product.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-04-01

    ... practice conditions of use: (1) The ingredient is used as an enzyme, as defined in § 170.3(o)(9) of this... 21 Food and Drugs 3 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Mixed carbohydrase and protease enzyme product..._regulations/ibr_locations.html. (c) In accordance with § 184.1(b)(1), the ingredient is used in food with no...

  16. Extrusion and Extruded Products: Changes in Quality Attributes as Affected by Extrusion Process Parameters: A Review.

    PubMed

    Alam, M S; Kaur, Jasmeen; Khaira, Harjot; Gupta, Kalika

    2016-01-01

    Extrusion of foods is an emerging technology for the food industries to process and market a large number of products of varying size, shape, texture, and taste. Extrusion cooking technology has led to production of wide variety of products like pasta, breakfast cereals, bread crumbs, biscuits, crackers, croutons, baby foods, snack foods, confectionery items, chewing gum, texturized vegetable protein (TVP), modified starch, pet foods, dried soups, dry beverage mixes etc. The functional properties of extruded foods plays an important role for their acceptability which include water absorption, water solubility, oil absorption indexes, expansion index, bulk density and viscosity of the dough. The aim of this review is to give the detailed outlines about the potential of extrusion technology in development of different types of products and the role of extrusion-operating conditions and their effect on product development resulting in quality changes i.e physical, chemical, and nutritional, experienced during the extrusion process.

  17. Ensuring and Improving Information Quality for Earth Science Data and Products Role of the ESIP Information Quality Cluster

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Ramapriyan, H. K. (Rama); Peng, Ge; Moroni, David; Shie, Chung-Lin

    2016-01-01

    Quality of products is always of concern to users regardless of the type of products. The focus of this paper is on the quality of Earth science data products. There are four different aspects of quality scientific, product, stewardship and service. All these aspects taken together constitute Information Quality. With increasing requirement on ensuring and improving information quality, there has been considerable work related to information quality during the last several years. Given this rich background of prior work, the Information Quality Cluster (IQC), established within the Federation of Earth Science Information Partners (ESIP) has been active with membership from multiple organizations. Its objectives and activities, aimed at ensuring and improving information quality for Earth science data and products, are discussed briefly.

  18. Ensuring and Improving Information Quality for Earth Science Data and Products: Role of the ESIP Information Quality Cluster

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Ramapriyan, Hampapuram; Peng, Ge; Moroni, David; Shie, Chung-Lin

    2016-01-01

    Quality of products is always of concern to users regardless of the type of products. The focus of this paper is on the quality of Earth science data products. There are four different aspects of quality - scientific, product, stewardship and service. All these aspects taken together constitute Information Quality. With increasing requirement on ensuring and improving information quality, there has been considerable work related to information quality during the last several years. Given this rich background of prior work, the Information Quality Cluster (IQC), established within the Federation of Earth Science Information Partners (ESIP) has been active with membership from multiple organizations. Its objectives and activities, aimed at ensuring and improving information quality for Earth science data and products, are discussed briefly.

  19. Irreversible Entropy Production in Two-Phase Mixing Layers

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Okongo, Nora

    2003-01-01

    This report presents a study of dissipation (irreversible production of entropy) in three-dimensional, temporal mixing layers laden with evaporating liquid drops. The purpose of the study is to examine the effects of evaporating drops on the development of turbulent features in flows. Direct numerical simulations were performed to analyze transitional states of three mixing layers: one without drops, and two that included drops at different initial mass loadings. Without drops, the dissipation is essentially due to viscous effects. It was found that in the presence of drops, the largest contribution to dissipation was made by heating and evaporation of the drops, and that at large length scales, this contribution is positive (signifying that the drops reduce turbulence), while at small scales, this contribution is negative (the drops increase turbulence). The second largest contribution to dissipation was found to be associated with the chemical potential, which leads to an increase in turbulence at large scales and a decrease in turbulence at small scales. The next smaller contribution was found to be that of viscosity. The fact that viscosity effects are only third in order of magnitude in the dissipation is in sharp contrast to the situation for the mixing layer without the drops. The next smaller contribution - that of the drag and momentum of the vapor from the drops - was found to be negative at lower mass loading but to become positive at higher mass loading.

  20. Annual Quality Assurance Conference Presentation by Mélanie Kah

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This is the presentation from Author Melanie Kah on Nanopesticides: State of Knowledge, Environmental Fate and Implications for Exposure Assessment, presented at the annual QA conference in Dallas, Tx in October 2015

  1. View from the center: Supercities conference

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Knox, J. B.

    The Supercities Conference (26-30 October 1992) was the initial activity planned and executed by the Pacific Basin Study Center (PBSC), a research center founded by San Francisco State University and the University of California, Davis. The Conference focused on issues of environmental quality and the quest for sustainable development in the great urban centers—Supercities—of the Pacific. The Conference, with its working group process, highlighted the long-term commitment of the PBSC to education, training, and research in regard to environmental, energy, and resource utilization issues that challenge society now and the coming century. We define a "Supercity" as a large metropolitan area of about eight million population currently undergoing rapid growth in population and urbanization. Some of the cities considered at the conference are emerging "Supercities"—large urban complexes destined to soon be "Supercities". Supercities in both the developing and developed nations are at critical stages of development, with the size and number of Supercities appearing to be unstoppable. These urban centers and their surrounding areas are large users of resources and energy. In many cases, the national demand for energy and materials will be largely patterned by the strategies, management, and actions taken within the Supercities. It is for this reason that our focus is on these dynamic, urban entities of the Pacific. Appropriate technology transfer, sharing of common concerns and knowledge, and the seeking of workable conservation and remediation efforts within Supercities could improve living conditions within these centers, and address regional and global environmental issues in parallel. The Conference focused on urban air quality conditions in 14 metropolitan areas, common health impacts, and projected emissions; a working group process defined needed areas for research and development of key information. Through the medium of panels, the progress of several major

  2. Water quality assessment of bioenergy production

    Treesearch

    Rocio Diaz-Chavez; Goran Berndes; Dan Neary; Andre Elia Neto; Mamadou Fall

    2011-01-01

    Water quality is a measurement of the biological, chemical, and physical characteristics of water against certain standards set to ensure ecological and/or human health. Biomass production and conversion to fuels and electricity can impact water quality in lakes, rivers, and aquifers with consequences for aquatic ecosystem health and also human water uses. Depending on...

  3. Advancement in modern approaches to mineral production quality control

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Freidina, EV; Botvinnik, AA; Dvornikova, AN

    2017-02-01

    The natural resource potential of mineral deposits is represented by three categories: upside, attainable and investment. A modern methodology is proposed in this paper for production quality control, and its tools aimed at ensuring agreement between the product quality and the market requirements are described. The definitions of the costs of the product quality compliance and incompliance with the consumer requirements are introduced; the latter is suggested to use in evaluating resource potential of mineral deposits at a certain degree of probability.

  4. Impact of product mix and markets on the economic feasibility of hardwood thinning

    Treesearch

    John E. Baumgras; Chris B. LeDoux

    1989-01-01

    Results demonstrate how the economic feasibility of commercial hardwood thinning is impacted by tree diameter, product mix, and primary product markets. These results indicate that multiproduct harvesting can increase revenues by $0.01/ft³ to $0.32/ft³; and that small shifts in price levels or haul distance can postpone commercial thinning...

  5. [Aquaculture in Italy. An integrated model of product quality control].

    PubMed

    De Giusti, Maria; Cocchieri, Renata Amodio; De Vito, Elisabetta; Grasso, Guido Maria; Ortaggi, Giancarlo; Reali, Daniela; Ricciardi, Gualtiero; Romano-Spica, Vincenzo; Boccia, Antonio

    2007-01-01

    Aquaculture is becoming increasingly diffuse even in Italy. The increased production introduces new problems such as product quality control and process safety. This article presents the results of a research project, funded by the Ministry of the Environment, whose aim was to evaluate and promote aquaculture product quality and safety in an environmentally responsible way. Four intensive land-based and offshore aquaculture sites were monitored to evaluate microbiological, biological and chemical (i.e. polychlorinated biphenyls and endocrine disruptors) quality of water, products and fish feed. In total 154 samples were analysed, of which 66 were water samples, 55 product samples and 33 feed samples. Salmonella and other enteric pathogens were absent in products and the aquatic environment, while other environmental pathogens of the Vibrio species were detected. Bacterial load and fecal indicators were found to be higher in off-shore products and in mussels from all aquaculture sites. PCBs were detected in all products in concentrations below 2 microg/g fresh product (Food and Drug Administration), but on average, higher concentrations were detected in off-shore products. No estrogen mimetic activity was detected in fish feed, in contrast it was detected in offshore products and water. Product quality was found to be strictly correlated with the quality of the environment. Genetically modified organisms were detected in fish feed but no integration of genetic material in products occurred.

  6. Water Quality in the Production of Containerized Longleaf Pine Seedlings

    Treesearch

    David J. Moorhead; John M. Ruter

    2002-01-01

    The consistent production of quality container grown seedlings requires that key production variables be identified and controlled; otherwise, quality and the percentage of marketable plants will be erratic (Garber and Ruter 1993a). Additionally, production times and costs may increase unless production variables are monitored and managed throughout the production...

  7. Fermentative hydrogen production from molasses wastewater in a continuous mixed immobilized sludge reactor.

    PubMed

    Han, Wei; Wang, Bing; Zhou, Yan; Wang, De-Xin; Wang, Yan; Yue, Li-Ran; Li, Yong-Feng; Ren, Nan-Qi

    2012-04-01

    A novel continuous mixed immobilized sludge reactor (CMISR) containing activated carbon as support carrier was used for fermentative hydrogen production from molasses wastewater. When the CMISR system operated at the conditions of influent COD of 2000-6000mg/L, hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 6h and temperature of 35°C, stable ethanol type fermentation was formed after 40days operation. The H(2) content in biogas and chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal were estimated to be 46.6% and 13%, respectively. The effects of organic loading rates (OLRs) on the CMISR hydrogen production system were also investigated. It was found that the maximum hydrogen production rate of 12.51mmol/hL was obtained at OLR of 32kg/m(3)d and the maximum hydrogen yield by substrate consumed of 130.57mmol/mol happened at OLR of 16kg/m(3)d. Therefore, the continuous mixed immobilized sludge reactor (CMISR) could be a promising immobilized system for fermentative hydrogen production. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. 51st Yearbook of the National Reading Conference (San Antonio, Texas, December 5-8, 2001)

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Schallert, Diane L., Ed.; Fairbanks, Colleen M., Ed.; Worthy, Jo, Ed.; Maloch, Beth, Ed.; Hoffman, James V., Ed.

    2002-01-01

    This volume presents the 51st Yearbook of the National Reading Conference. Included in this volume are 28 research reports, six invited and award-winning addresses, and a conference summary by Deborah Dillion. Readers will find quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods studies throughout the volume about topics ranging from early literacy…

  9. Effects of mixing system and pilot fuel quality on diesel-biogas dual fuel engine performance.

    PubMed

    Bedoya, Iván Darío; Arrieta, Andrés Amell; Cadavid, Francisco Javier

    2009-12-01

    This paper describes results obtained from CI engine performance running on dual fuel mode at fixed engine speed and four loads, varying the mixing system and pilot fuel quality, associated with fuel composition and cetane number. The experiments were carried out on a power generation diesel engine at 1500 m above sea level, with simulated biogas (60% CH(4)-40% CO(2)) as primary fuel, and diesel and palm oil biodiesel as pilot fuels. Dual fuel engine performance using a naturally aspirated mixing system and diesel as pilot fuel was compared with engine performance attained with a supercharged mixing system and biodiesel as pilot fuel. For all loads evaluated, was possible to achieve full diesel substitution using biogas and biodiesel as power sources. Using the supercharged mixing system combined with biodiesel as pilot fuel, thermal efficiency and substitution of pilot fuel were increased, whereas methane and carbon monoxide emissions were reduced.

  10. Process performance and product quality in an integrated continuous antibody production process.

    PubMed

    Karst, Daniel J; Steinebach, Fabian; Soos, Miroslav; Morbidelli, Massimo

    2017-02-01

    Continuous manufacturing is currently being seriously considered in the biopharmaceutical industry as the possible new paradigm for producing therapeutic proteins, due to production cost and product quality related benefits. In this study, a monoclonal antibody producing CHO cell line was cultured in perfusion mode and connected to a continuous affinity capture step. The reliable and stable integration of the two systems was enabled by suitable control loops, regulating the continuous volumetric flow and adapting the operating conditions of the capture process. For the latter, an at-line HPLC measurement of the harvest concentration subsequent to the bioreactor was combined with a mechanistic model of the capture chromatographic unit. Thereby, optimal buffer consumption and productivity throughout the process was realized while always maintaining a yield above the target value of 99%. Stable operation was achieved at three consecutive viable cell density set points (20, 60, and 40 × 10 6 cells/mL), together with consistent product quality in terms of aggregates, fragments, charge isoforms, and N-linked glycosylation. In addition, different values for these product quality attributes such as N-linked glycosylation, charge variants, and aggregate content were measured at the different steady states. As expected, the amount of released DNA and HCP was significantly reduced by the capture step for all considered upstream operating conditions. This study is exemplary for the potential of enhancing product quality control and modulation by integrated continuous manufacturing. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2017;114: 298-307. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  11. Personal Goal Setting and Quality of Life: A Mixed Methods Study of Adult Professionals

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ingraham, Frank

    2017-01-01

    This mixed methods study was designed to examine the potential impactful relationship between personal goal setting and the quality of life satisfaction (built upon the Goal Setting Theory of motivation and performance). The study aimed to determine how influential the goal achievement process is (or is not) regarding personal fulfillment and…

  12. Autonomous Rendezvous and Docking Conference, volume 1

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1990-01-01

    This document consists of the presentation submitted at the Autonomous Rendezvous and Docking (ARD) Conference. It contains three volumes: ARD hardware technology; ARD software technology; and ARD operations. The purpose of this conference is to identify the technologies required for an on orbit demonstration of the ARD, assess the maturity of these technologies, and provide the necessary insight for a quality assessment of the programmatic management, technical, schedule, and cost risks.

  13. Autonomous Rendezvous and Docking Conference, volume 3

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1990-01-01

    This document consists of the presentation submitted at the Autonomous Rendezvous and Docking (ARD) Conference. The document contains three volumes: ARD hardware technology; ARD software technology; and ARD operations. The purpose of this conference is to identify the technologies required for an on orbit demonstration of ARD, assess the maturity of these technologies, and provide the necessary insight for a quality assessment of programmatic management, technical, schedule, and cost risks.

  14. The use of a Mentoring-Based Conference as a Research Career Stimulation Strategy

    PubMed Central

    Interian, Alejandro; Escobar, Javier I.

    2009-01-01

    Introduction Across healthcare, US minority populations including Latinos face disparities in risk for disease, clinical outcomes, and quality of care. The discourse related to disparity problems has often highlighted the need to increase the number of minority scientists so that the productivity of research focusing on minority populations is expanded. As a result, a group of Latino mental health researchers collaborated to develop a national network of senior mentors that participated in annual mentoring-oriented conferences. A cost-effective program was developed to stimulate the entry of new investigators into the field and provide mentoring with a focus on Latino mental health issues. Method A conference-platform was used as the career stimulation strategy. Annual conferences were held (2002 – 2006) that emphasized the showcasing of new investigators' work, pairing new investigators with senior researchers, and a feedback-oriented environment. Quantitative data were used to track new investigator career progress (i.e., publications, research grants), while qualitative data were used to assess all attendees' feedback, which was provided via conference feedback questionnaires. Results The feedback questionnaires revealed high levels of satisfaction with the conference, noting most highly the interactive, friendly, and nurturing conference format. Career tracking data indicated that nearly half of the new investigators participants published their work in peer-reviewed journals, and that about one-third of were successful in obtaining research funding. Conclusions These mentoring conferences appear to be an effective tool for stimulating the research careers of new investigators engaged in Latino mental health research. PMID:19881428

  15. Product quality considerations for mammalian cell culture process development and manufacturing.

    PubMed

    Gramer, Michael J

    2014-01-01

    The manufacturing of a biologic drug from mammalian cells results in not a single substance, but an array of product isoforms, also known as variants. These isoforms arise due to intracellular or extracellular events as a result of biological or chemical modification. The most common examples related to biomanufacturing include amino acid modifications (glycosylation, isomerization, oxidation, adduct formation, pyroglutamate formation, phosphorylation, sulfation, amidation), amino acid sequence variants (genetic mutations, amino acid misincorporation, N- and C-terminal heterogeneity, clipping), and higher-order structure modifications (misfolding, aggregation, disulfide pairing). Process-related impurities (HCP, DNA, media components, viral particles) are also important quality attributes related to product safety. The observed ranges associated with each quality attribute define the product quality profile. A biologic drug must have a correct and consistent quality profile throughout clinical development and scale-up to commercial production to ensure product safety and efficacy. In general, the upstream process (cell culture) defines the quality of product-related substances, whereas the downstream process (purification) defines the residual level of process- and product-related impurities. The purpose of this chapter is to review the impact of the cell culture process on product quality. Emphasis is placed on studies with industrial significance and where the direct mechanism of product quality impact was determined. Where possible, recommendations for maintaining consistent or improved quality are provided.

  16. Nursing skill mix in European hospitals: cross-sectional study of the association with mortality, patient ratings, and quality of care.

    PubMed

    Aiken, Linda H; Sloane, Douglas; Griffiths, Peter; Rafferty, Anne Marie; Bruyneel, Luk; McHugh, Matthew; Maier, Claudia B; Moreno-Casbas, Teresa; Ball, Jane E; Ausserhofer, Dietmar; Sermeus, Walter

    2017-07-01

    To determine the association of hospital nursing skill mix with patient mortality, patient ratings of their care and indicators of quality of care. Cross-sectional patient discharge data, hospital characteristics and nurse and patient survey data were merged and analysed using generalised estimating equations (GEE) and logistic regression models. Adult acute care hospitals in Belgium, England, Finland, Ireland, Spain and Switzerland. Survey data were collected from 13 077 nurses in 243 hospitals, and 18 828 patients in 182 of the same hospitals in the six countries. Discharge data were obtained for 275 519 surgical patients in 188 of these hospitals. Patient mortality, patient ratings of care, care quality, patient safety, adverse events and nurse burnout and job dissatisfaction. Richer nurse skill mix (eg, every 10-point increase in the percentage of professional nurses among all nursing personnel) was associated with lower odds of mortality (OR=0.89), lower odds of low hospital ratings from patients (OR=0.90) and lower odds of reports of poor quality (OR=0.89), poor safety grades (OR=0.85) and other poor outcomes (0.80mix by adding nursing associates and other categories of assistive nursing personnel without professional nurse qualifications may contribute to preventable deaths, erode quality and safety of hospital care and contribute to hospital nurse

  17. Peer Conferences in Calculus: The Impact of Systematic Training

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Reinholz, Daniel

    2017-01-01

    This paper describes an intervention for improving the quality of peer assessment conferences in calculus. Although a body of work highlights the learning benefits of peer assessment, few papers have described the nature of student conversations during peer conferences/assessment in detail. This paper provides deeper insight into what those…

  18. Bottom Line II Conference. Quality -- The Vital Link in Production and Readiness.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1983-06-01

    Business schools teach the concept, and popular books such as MEGATRENDS and IN SEARC CF MMECELT11E, reiterate it. Similarly, it is important that leaders...work the Quality problem. You rarely find it in universities - Dr. Hunter, talked to the issue, but if you go back and look at the business schools , or...biggest. We have developed some sloppy management practices in this country. I think our business schools have turned out people disciplined to think

  19. HBCUs Research Conference Agenda and Abstracts

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Dutta, Sunil (Compiler)

    1997-01-01

    The purpose of this Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUS) Research Conference was to provide an opportunity for principal investigators and their students to present research progress reports. The abstracts included in this report indicate the range and quality of research topics such as aeropropulsion, space propulsion, space power, fluid dynamics, designs, structures and materials being funded through grants from Lewis Research Center to HBCUS. The conference generated extensive networking between students, principal investigators, Lewis technical monitors, and other Lewis researchers.

  20. HBCUs Research Conference Agenda and Abstracts

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Dutta, Sunil (Compiler)

    1998-01-01

    The purpose of this Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) Research Conference was to provide an opportunity for principal investigators and their students to present research progress reports. The abstracts included in this report indicate the range and quality of research topics such as aeropropulsion, space propulsion, space power, fluid dynamics, designs, structures and materials being funded through grants from Lewis Research Center to HBCUs. The conference generated extensive networking between students, principal investigators, Lewis technical monitors, and other Lewis researchers.

  1. HBCUs Research Conference agenda and abstracts

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Dutta, Sunil (Compiler)

    1995-01-01

    The purpose of this Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) Research conference was to provide an opportunity for principal investigators and their students to present research progress reports. The abstracts included in this report indicate the range and quality of research topics such as aeropropulsion, space propulsion, space power, fluid dynamics, designs, structures and materials being funded through grants from Lewis Research Center to HBCUs. The conference generated extensive networking between students, principal investigators, Lewis technical monitors, and other Lewis researchers.

  2. Digestibility, productive performance, and egg quality of laying hens as affected by dried cassava pulp replacement with corn and enzyme supplementation.

    PubMed

    Khempaka, Sutisa; Maliwan, Prapot; Okrathok, Supattra; Molee, Wittawat

    2018-02-24

    Two experiments were conducted to investigate the potential use of dried cassava pulp (DCP) supplemented with enzymes as an alternative feed ingredient in laying hen diets. In experiment 1, 45 laying hens (Isa Brown) aged 45 weeks were placed in individual cages to measure nutrient digestibility for 10 days. Nine dietary treatments were control and DCP as a replacement for corn at 20, 25, 30, and 35% supplemented with mixed enzymes (cellulase, glucanase, and xylanase) at 0.10 and 0.15%. Results showed that the use of DCP at 20-35% added with mixed enzymes had no negative effects on dry matter digestibility, while organic matter digestibility and nitrogen retention decreased with increased DCP up to 30-35% in diets. Both enzyme levels (0.10 and 0.15%) showed similar results on nutrient digestibility and retention. In experiment 2, a total of 336 laying hens aged 32 weeks were randomly allocated to seven dietary treatments (control and DCP-substituted diets at 20, 25, and 30%) supplemented with mixed enzymes (0.10 and 0.15%). Diets incorporated with 20-30% of DCP and supplemented with mixed enzymes at both levels had no significant effects on egg production, egg weight, feed intake, egg mass, feed conversion ratio, protein efficiency ratio, or egg quality, except for egg yolk color being decreased with an increase of DCP in diets (P < 0.05). In conclusion, it is suggested that DCP supplemented with enzymes can be used as an energy source in laying hen diets up to 30% without showing negative effects on nutrient digestibility, productive performance, or egg quality.

  3. Mechanisms for hydrogen production by different bacteria during mixed-acid and photo-fermentation and perspectives of hydrogen production biotechnology.

    PubMed

    Trchounian, Armen

    2015-03-01

    H2 has a great potential as an ecologically-clean, renewable and capable fuel. It can be mainly produced via hydrogenases (Hyd) by different bacteria, especially Escherichia coli and Rhodobacter sphaeroides. The operation direction and activity of multiple Hyd enzymes in E. coli during mixed-acid fermentation might determine H2 production; some metabolic cross-talk between Hyd enzymes is proposed. Manipulating the activity of different Hyd enzymes is an effective way to enhance H2 production by E. coli in biotechnology. Moreover, a novel approach would be the use of glycerol as feedstock in fermentation processes leading to H2 production. Mixed carbon (sugar and glycerol) utilization studies enlarge the kind of organic wastes used in biotechnology. During photo-fermentation under limited nitrogen conditions, H2 production by Rh. sphaeroides is observed when carbon and nitrogen sources are supplemented. The relationship of H2 production with H(+) transport across the membrane and membrane-associated ATPase activity is shown. On the other hand, combination of carbon sources (succinate, malate) with different nitrogen sources (yeast extract, glutamate, glycine) as well as different metal (Fe, Ni, Mg) ions might regulate H2 production. All these can enhance H2 production yield by Rh. sphaeroides in biotechnology Finally, two of these bacteria might be combined to develop and consequently to optimize two stages of H2 production biotechnology with high efficiency transformation of different organic sources.

  4. Registered Nurse Staffing Mix and Quality of Care in Nursing Homes: A Longitudinal Analysis

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kim, Hongsoo; Harrington, Charlene; Greene, William H.

    2009-01-01

    Purpose: To examine the relationship between registered nurse (RN) staffing mix and quality of nursing home care measured by regulatory violations. Design and Methods: A retrospective panel data study (1999-2003) of 2 groups of California freestanding nursing homes. One group was 201 nursing homes that consistently met the state's minimum standard…

  5. Laboratory evaluation of influence of operational tolerance (acceptance criterion) on performance of hot-mix asphalt concrete.

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2010-06-01

    The performance of flexible pavements relies heavily on the final quality of the hot-mix asphalt concrete (HMAC) as it : is produced and placed in the field. To account for production and construction variability while ensuring the quality of the : H...

  6. Sustainable production of wood and non-wood forest products

    Treesearch

    Ellen M. Donoghue; Gary L. Benson; James L. Chamberlain

    2003-01-01

    The International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) All Divisions 5 Conference in Rotorua, New Zealand, March 11-15, 2003, focused on issues surrounding sustainable foest management and forest products research. As the conference title "Forest Products Research: Providing for Sustainable Choices" suggests, the purpose of the conference was to...

  7. Improving quality and safety in nursing homes and home care: the study protocol of a mixed-methods research design to implement a leadership intervention

    PubMed Central

    Wiig, Siri; Ree, Eline; Johannessen, Terese; Strømme, Torunn; Storm, Marianne; Aase, Ingunn; Ullebust, Berit; Holen-Rabbersvik, Elisabeth; Hurup Thomsen, Line; Sandvik Pedersen, Anne Torhild; van de Bovenkamp, Hester; Bal, Roland; Aase, Karina

    2018-01-01

    Introduction Nursing homes and home care face challenges across different countries as people are living longer, often with chronic conditions. There is a lack of knowledge regarding implementation and impact of quality and safety interventions as most research evidence so far is generated in hospitals. Additionally, there is a lack of effective leadership tools for quality and safety improvement work in this context. Methods and analysis The aim of the ‘Improving Quality and Safety in Primary Care—Implementing a Leadership Intervention in Nursing Homes and Homecare’ (SAFE-LEAD) study is to develop and evaluate a research-based leadership guide for managers to increase quality and safety competence. The project applies a mixed-methods design and explores the implications of the leadership guide on managers’ and staffs’ knowledge, attitudes and practices. Four nursing homes and four home care services from different Norwegian municipalities will participate in the intervention. Surveys, process evaluation (interviews, observations) and document analyses will be conducted to evaluate the implementation and impact of the leadership intervention. A comparative study of Norway and the Netherlands will establish knowledge of the context dependency of the intervention. Ethics and dissemination The study is approved by the Norwegian Centre for Research Data (2017/52324 and 54855). The results will be disseminated through scientific articles, two PhD dissertations, an anthology, presentations at national and international conferences, and in social media, newsletters and in the press. The results will generate knowledge to inform leadership practices in nursing homes and home care. Moreover, the study will build new theory on leadership interventions and the role of contextual factors in nursing homes and home care. PMID:29599394

  8. NIH state-of-the-science conference statement: Enhancing use and quality of colorectal cancer screening.

    PubMed

    Steinwachs, Donald; Allen, Jennifer Dacey; Barlow, William Eric; Duncan, R Paul; Egede, Leonard E; Friedman, Lawrence S; Keating, Nancy L; Kim, Paula; Lave, Judith R; LaVeist, Thomas A; Ness, Roberta B; Optican, Robert J; Virnig, Beth A

    2010-02-04

    To provide health care providers, patients, and the general public with a responsible assessment of currently available data on enhancing use and quality of colorectal cancer screening. A non-DHHS, nonadvocate 13-member panel representing the fields of cancer surveillance, health services research, community-based research, informed decision-making, access to care, health care policy, health communication, health economics, health disparities, epidemiology, statistics, thoracic radiology, internal medicine, gastroenterology, public health, end-of-life care, and a public representative. In addition, 20 experts from pertinent fields presented data to the panel and conference audience. Presentations by experts and a systematic review of the literature prepared by the RTI International-University of North Carolina Evidence-based Practice Center, through the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Scientific evidence was given precedence over anecdotal experience. The panel drafted its statement based on scientific evidence presented in open forum and on published scientific literature. The draft statement was presented on the final day of the conference and circulated to the audience for comment. The panel released a revised statement later that day at http://consensus.nih.gov. This statement is an independent report of the panel and is not a policy statement of the NIH or the Federal Government. The panel found that despite substantial progress toward higher colorectal cancer screening rates nationally, screening rates fall short of desirable levels. Targeted initiatives to improve screening rates and reduce disparities in underscreened communities and population subgroups could further reduce colorectal cancer morbidity and mortality. This could be achieved by utilizing the full range of screening options and evidence-based interventions for increasing screening rates. With additional investments in quality monitoring, Americans could be assured that all

  9. Use of whey lactose from dairy industry for economical kefiran production by Lactobacillus kefiranofaciens in mixed cultures with yeasts.

    PubMed

    Cheirsilp, Benjamas; Radchabut, Sirilaor

    2011-10-01

    To evaluate the feasibility of producing kefiran industrially, whey lactose, a by-product from dairy industry, was used as a low cost carbon source. Because the accumulation of lactic acid as a by-product of Lactobacillus kefiranofaciens inhibited cell growth and kefiran production, the kefir grain derived and non-derived yeasts were screened for their abilities to reduce lactic acid and promote kefiran production in a mixed culture. Six species of yeasts were examined: Torulaspora delbrueckii IFO 1626; Saccharomyces cerevisiae IFO 0216; Debaryomyces hansenii TISTR 5155; Saccharomyces exiguus TISTR 5081; Zygosaccharomyces rouxii TISTR 5044; and Saccharomyces carlsbergensis TISTR 5018. The mixed culture of L. kefiranofaciens with S. cerevisiae IFO 0216 enhanced the kefiran production best from 568 mg/L in the pure culture up to 807 and 938 mg/L in the mixed cultures under anaerobic and microaerobic conditions, respectively. The optimal conditions for kefiran production by the mixed culture were: whey lactose 4%; yeast extract 4%; initial pH of 5.5; and initial amounts of L. kefiranofaciens and S. cerevisiae IFO 0216 of 2.1×10(7) and 4.0×10(6)CFU/mL, respectively. Scaling up the mixed culture in a 2L bioreactor with dissolved oxygen control at 5% and pH control at 5.5 gave the maximum kefiran production of 2,580 mg/L in batch culture and 3,250 mg/L in fed-batch culture. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  10. Conference on the topic: {open_quotes}Exploration and production of petroleum and gas from chalk reservoirs worldwide{close_quotes}

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Kuznetsov, V.G.

    1995-07-01

    More than 170 delegates from 14 countries in Europe, North America, Africa, and Asia took part in a conference on the topic: Exploration and Production of Petroleum and Gas from Chalk Reservoirs Worldwide. The conference was held in Copenhagen, Denmark in September,1994, and was a joint meeting of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG), and the European Association of Petroleum Geoscientists and Engineers (EAPG). In addition to the opening remarks, 25 oral and nine poster reports were presented. The topics included chalk deposits as reservoir rocks, the occurrence of chalk deposits worldwide, the North Sea oil and gas fields,more » and other related topics.« less

  11. Effect of mixed hay supplementation during fattening on carcass traits and meat quality of Hanwoo steers.

    PubMed

    Utama, Dicky Tri; Choi, Ji Hye; Lee, Chang Woo; Park, Yeon Soo; Lee, Sung Ki

    2017-01-01

    This study was aim to observe the effects of feeding mixed local hay (MH) consisted of 55% orchard grass ( Dactylis glomerata L.), 35% tall fescue ( Festuca arundinacea ) and 10% red clover ( Trifolium pratense ) to Hanwoo steers on performance, carcass characteristics and meat quality ( longissimus thoracis ) compared with feeding imported timothy hay (TH) and local rice straw (RS). Although no significant effects were found on animal performance and carcass yield grade, the carcasses of MH group had higher marbling score and quality grade than those of RS and TH group ( P  < 0.05). Therefore, higher fat content ( P  < 0.001), lower shear force and hardness value in the beef of MH group than that of other groups were observed. Furthermore, the beef of MH group had higher CIE a* value (redness) than that of other groups and feeding MH to Hanwoo steers lowered n-6 to n-3 fatty acids ratio in beef. Mixed hay provided benefits on meat quality and could be used for Hanwoo fattening program.

  12. Formulation and nutritional evaluation of multigrain ready-to-eat snack mix from minor cereals.

    PubMed

    Pradeep, P M; Dharmaraj, Usha; Sathyendra Rao, B V; Senthil, Amudha; Vijayalakshmi, N S; Malleshi, N G; Singh, Vasudeva

    2014-12-01

    A ready-to-eat nutritious snack mix was developed by blending the flour from popped millets and legumes with sugar and other ingredients in the optimized proportion of 30:20:27:23. The nutrient composition, functional properties, sensory qualities and storage characteristics of the product were analysed. The product contained protein 14.0 ± 0.07 g, fat 14.5 ± 0.72 g, carbohydrates 59.0 ± 1.20 g and dietary fiber 6.3 ± 0.04 g per 100 g of mix. The sensory evaluation of the product revealed that color, taste, texture, aroma, appearance and overall quality were in acceptable range with mean score of 6.8. Shelf life of the product was about 90 days under normal conditions when stored in low density polypropylene pouches. The work indicates the potential of using coarse cereals and legumes for preparation of nutritious food for societal program.

  13. Perfusion seed cultures improve biopharmaceutical fed-batch production capacity and product quality.

    PubMed

    Yang, William C; Lu, Jiuyi; Kwiatkowski, Chris; Yuan, Hang; Kshirsagar, Rashmi; Ryll, Thomas; Huang, Yao-Ming

    2014-01-01

    Volumetric productivity and product quality are two key performance indicators for any biopharmaceutical cell culture process. In this work, we showed proof-of-concept for improving both through the use of alternating tangential flow perfusion seed cultures coupled with high-seed fed-batch production cultures. First, we optimized the perfusion N-1 stage, the seed train bioreactor stage immediately prior to the production bioreactor stage, to minimize the consumption of perfusion media for one CHO cell line and then successfully applied the optimized perfusion process to a different CHO cell line. Exponential growth was observed throughout the N-1 duration, reaching >40 × 10(6) vc/mL at the end of the perfusion N-1 stage. The cultures were subsequently split into high-seed (10 × 10(6) vc/mL) fed-batch production cultures. This strategy significantly shortened the culture duration. The high-seed fed-batch production processes for cell lines A and B reached 5 g/L titer in 12 days, while their respective low-seed processes reached the same titer in 17 days. The shortened production culture duration potentially generates a 30% increase in manufacturing capacity while yielding comparable product quality. When perfusion N-1 and high-seed fed-batch production were applied to cell line C, higher levels of the active protein were obtained, compared to the low-seed process. This, combined with correspondingly lower levels of the inactive species, can enhance the overall process yield for the active species. Using three different CHO cell lines, we showed that perfusion seed cultures can optimize capacity utilization and improve process efficiency by increasing volumetric productivity while maintaining or improving product quality. © 2014 American Institute of Chemical Engineers.

  14. Highly efficient generation of broadband cascaded four-wave mixing products.

    PubMed

    Cerqueira S, Arismar; Boggio, J M Chavez; Rieznik, A A; Hernandez-Figueroa, H E; Fragnito, H L; Knight, J C

    2008-02-18

    We propose a novel way to efficiently generate broadband cascaded Four-Wave Mixing (FWM) products. It consists of launching two strong pump waves near the zero-dispersion wavelength of a very short (of order a few meters) optical fiber. Simulations based on Split Step Fourier Method (SSFM) and experimental data demonstrate the efficiency of our new approach. Multiple FWM products have been investigated by using conventional fibers and ultra-flattened dispersion photonic crystal fibers (UFD-PCFs). Measured results present bandwidths of 300 nm with up to 118 FWM products. We have also demonstrated a flat bandwidth of 110 nm covering the C and L bands, with a small variation of only 1.2 dB between the powers of FWM products, has been achieved using highly nonlinear fibers (HNLFs). The use of UFD-PCFs has been shown interesting for improving the multiple FWM efficiency and reducing the separation between the pump wavelengths.

  15. Influence of doum (Hyphaene thebaica L.) flour addition on dough mixing properties, bread quality and antioxidant potential.

    PubMed

    Aboshora, Waleed; Lianfu, Zhang; Dahir, Mohammed; Qingran, Meng; Musa, Abubakr; Gasmalla, Mohammed A A; Omar, Khamis Ali

    2016-01-01

    In this covenant of functional foods, the world seeks for new healthier food products with appropriate proportions of bioactive constituents such as fiber, mineral elements, phenols and flavonoids. The doum fruit has good nutritional and pharmaceutical properties; therefore, its incorporation in breads could be beneficial in improving human health. In the current study, partial substitution of wheat flour (WF) with doum fruit flour (DFF) at levels of 5 %, 10 %, 15 % and 20 % were carried out to investigate the dough viscoelastic properties, baking performance, proximate compositions and antioxidant properties of the breads. Partial substitution of WF with DFF increased the water absorption and developing time of dough (P ≤ 0.05), while, the dough extensibility, resistance to extension and the deformation energy were reduced. Bread supplemented with DFF resulted in a reduction in quality in terms of specific loaf volume, conferred softness, hardness, cohesiveness and gumminess to the bread crumbs. DFF up to 15 % could partially replace WF in bread; increase its nutritional value in terms of fiber content and minerals, with only a small depreciation in the bread quality. Sensory evaluation showed that breads supplemented up to 15 % DFF were acceptable to the panelists and there was no significant difference in terms of taste, texture and overall acceptability compared to the control. The incorporation of DFF increased the total phenolic contents, total flavonoids contents and antioxidant properties compared to the control (for both flour and bread).

  16. Analyzing Trends in Conference Design.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Draves, William A.

    1985-01-01

    Four major forces will provide the major influences on all adult learning in the next decade, and they affect conferences and meetings as well. The author discusses these four forces: friendly competition, appeals to the emotions, demands for quality, and increased research and development. (CT)

  17. Measuring the Effectiveness of a Genetic Counseling Supervision Training Conference.

    PubMed

    Atzinger, Carrie L; He, Hua; Wusik, Katie

    2016-08-01

    Genetic counselors who receive formal training report increased confidence and competence in their supervisory roles. The effectiveness of specific formal supervision training has not been assessed previously. A day-long GC supervision conference was designed based on published supervision competencies and was attended by 37 genetic counselors. Linear Mixed Model and post-hoc paired t-test was used to compare Psychotherapy Supervisor Development Scale (PSDS) scores among/between individuals pre and post conference. Generalized Estimating Equation (GEE) model and post-hoc McNemar's test was used to determine if the conference had an effect on GC supervision competencies. PSDS scores were significantly increased 1 week (p < 0.001) and 6 months (p < 0.001) following the conference. For three supervision competencies, attendees were more likely to agree they were able to perform them after the conference than before. These effects remained significant 6 months later. For the three remaining competencies, the majority of supervisors agreed they could perform these before the conference; therefore, no change was found. This exploratory study showed this conference increased the perceived confidence and competence of the supervisors who attended and increased their self-reported ability to perform certain supervision competencies. While still preliminary, this supports the idea that a one day conference on supervision has the potential to impact supervisor development.

  18. Metabolic analyses of the improved ε-poly-L-lysine productivity using a glucose-glycerol mixed carbon source in chemostat cultures.

    PubMed

    Zhang, Jian-Hua; Zeng, Xin; Chen, Xu-Sheng; Mao, Zhong-Gui

    2018-04-21

    The glucose-glycerol mixed carbon source remarkably reduced the batch fermentation time of ε-poly-L-lysine (ε-PL) production, leading to higher productivity of both biomass and ε-PL, which was of great significance in industrial microbial fermentation. Our previous study confirmed the positive influence of fast cell growth on the ε-PL biosynthesis, while the direct influence of mixed carbon source on ε-PL production was still unknown. In this work, chemostat culture was employed to study the capacity of ε-PL biosynthesis in different carbon sources at a same dilution rate of 0.05 h -1 . The results indicated that the mixed carbon source could enhance the ε-PL productivity besides the rapid cell growth. Analysis of key enzymes demonstrated that the activities of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase, citrate synthase, aspartokinase and ε-PL synthetase were all increased in chemostat culture with the mixed carbon source. In addition, the carbon fluxes were also improved in the mixed carbon source in terms of tricarboxylic acid cycle, anaplerotic and diaminopimelate pathway. Moreover, the mixed carbon source also accelerated the energy metabolism, leading to higher levels of energy charge and NADH/NAD + ratio. The overall improvements of primary metabolism in chemostat culture with glucose-glycerol combination provided sufficient carbon skeletons and ATP for ε-PL biosynthesis. Therefore, the significantly higher ε-PL productivity in the mixed carbon source was a combined effect of both superior substrate group and rapid cell growth.

  19. Product Mix Selection Using AN Evolutionary Technique

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tsoulos, Ioannis G.; Vasant, Pandian

    2009-08-01

    This paper proposes an evolutionary technique for the solution of a real—life industrial problem and particular for the product mix selection problem. The evolutionary technique is a combination of a genetic algorithm that preserves the feasibility of the trial solutions with penalties and some local optimization method. The goal of this paper has been achieved in finding the best near optimal solution for the profit fitness function respect to vagueness factor and level of satisfaction. The findings of the profit values will be very useful for the decision makers in the industrial engineering sector for the implementation purpose. It's possible to improve the solutions obtained in this study by employing other meta-heuristic methods such as simulated annealing, tabu Search, ant colony optimization, particle swarm optimization and artificial immune systems.

  20. Effect of Multidisciplinary Cancer Conference on Treatment Plan for Patients With Primary Rectal Cancer.

    PubMed

    Snelgrove, Ryan C; Subendran, Jhananiee; Jhaveri, Kartik; Thipphavong, Seng; Cummings, Bernard; Brierley, James; Kirsch, Richard; Kennedy, Erin D

    2015-07-01

    Although multidisciplinary cancer conferences have been reported to lead to improved patient outcomes, few studies have reported results of these for rectal cancer. The purpose of this work was to assess the quality of multidisciplinary cancer conferences, the effect of the conference on the initial treatment plan, compliance with the conference treatment recommendations, and clinical outcomes for rectal cancer. This was a prospective, longitudinal study. The study was conducted at a tertiary care academic hospital. Patients with primary rectal cancer were included in this study. The intervention was a rectal cancer-specific multidisciplinary cancer conference. The quality of the multidisciplinary cancer conference was assessed using the Cancer Care Ontario Multidisciplinary Cancer Conference standards score. A change in treatment plan was defined as a change from the initial treatment plan selected by the treating physician to an alternate treatment plan recommended at the conference. Twenty-five multidisciplinary cancer conferences were conducted over a 10-month study period. The Cancer Care Ontario Multidisciplinary Cancer Conference standards score was 7 (from a maximum score of 9). Forty-two patients with primary rectal cancer were presented, and there was a 29% (12/42) change in the initial treatment plan. A total of 42% (5/12) of these changes were attributed to reinterpretation of the MRI findings. There was 100% compliance with the conference treatment recommendations. The circumferential resection margin was positive in 5.5% (2/36). Selection bias may have led to an overestimate of effect, and there is no control group for comparison of clinical outcomes. A high-quality rectal cancer-specific multidisciplinary cancer conference led to a 29% change in the treatment plan for patients with primary rectal cancer, with almost half of these changes attributed to reinterpretation of the magnetic resonance images.

  1. Quality assurance in the production of pipe fittings by automatic laser-based material identification

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Moench, Ingo; Peter, Laszlo; Priem, Roland; Sturm, Volker; Noll, Reinhard

    1999-09-01

    In plants of the chemical, nuclear and off-shore industry, application specific high-alloyed steels are used for pipe fittings. Mixing of different steel grades can lead to corrosion with severe consequential damages. Growing quality requirements and environmental responsibilities demand a 100% material control in the production of the pipe fittings. Therefore, LIFT, an automatic inspection machine, was developed to insure against any mix of material grades. LIFT is able to identify more than 30 different steel grades. The inspection method is based on Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectrometry (LIBS). An expert system, which can be easily trained and recalibrated, was developed for the data evaluation. The result of the material inspection is transferred to an external handling system via a PLC interface. The duration of the inspection process is 2 seconds. The graphical user interface was developed with respect to the requirements of an unskilled operator. The software is based on a realtime operating system and provides a safe and reliable operation. An interface for the remote maintenance by modem enables a fast operational support. Logged data are retrieved and evaluated. This is the basis for an adaptive improvement of the configuration of LIFT with respect to changing requirements in the production line. Within the first six months of routine operation, about 50000 pipe fittings were inspected.

  2. The influence of farmland pollution on the quality and safety of agricultural products

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ma, Z. L.; Li, L. Y.; Ye, C.; Lin, X. Y.; B, C.; Wei

    2018-02-01

    The quality and safety of agricultural products is not only a major livelihood issues for people’s health, but also the main barriers to international trade of agricultural products nowadays. The soil is the foundation to the production of agricultural products and the guarantee of agricultural development. The farmland soil quality is directly related to the quality and safety of agricultural products. Our country’s soil has been polluted by a series of pollution, Such as the excessive discharge of industrial wastes, the encroachment of household waste, and the unreasonable use of pesticides and fertilizers. Soil degradation is a serious threat to the quality and safety of agricultural products, so eliminating soil degradation is the fundamental way out for quality and safety of agricultural products. By analyzing problems of the quality and safety of agricultural products in our country, and exploring the farmland soil influence on the quality and safety of agricultural products. This article provides a reference for improving the control level of quality and safety of agricultural products and the farmland soil quality.

  3. Using mixed inocula of Saccharomyces cerevisiae killer strains to improve the quality of traditional sparkling-wine.

    PubMed

    Velázquez, Rocío; Zamora, Emiliano; Álvarez, Manuel; Álvarez, María L; Ramírez, Manuel

    2016-10-01

    The quality of traditional sparkling-wine depends on the aging process in the presence of dead yeast cells. These cells undergo a slow autolysis process thereby releasing some compounds, mostly colloidal polymers such as polysaccharides and mannoproteins, which influence the wine's foam properties and mouthfeel. Saccharomyces cerevisiae killer yeasts were tested to increase cell death and autolysis during mixed-yeast-inoculated second fermentation and aging. These yeasts killed sensitive strains in killer plate assays done under conditions of low pH and temperature similar to those used in sparkling-wine making, although some strains showed a different killer behaviour during the second fermentation. The fast killer effect improved the foam quality and mouthfeel of the mixed-inoculated wines, while the slow killer effect gave small improvements over single-inoculated wines. The effect was faster under high-pressure than under low-pressure conditions. Wine quality improvement did not correlate with the polysaccharide, protein, mannan, or aromatic compound concentrations, suggesting that the mouthfeel and foaming quality of sparkling wine are very complex properties influenced by other wine compounds and their interactions, as well as probably by the specific chemical composition of a given wine. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. S-shape relationship between customer satisfaction and willingness to pay premium prices for high quality cured pork products in Spain.

    PubMed

    Cotes-Torres, Alejandro; Muñoz-Gallego, Pablo A; Cotes-Torres, José Miguel

    2012-03-01

    This paper explores 2 different probabilistic models explaining willingness to pay premium prices for high-quality cured products from the swine industry. Seven cured pork products (sausage, fuet, ham, loin, shoulder, salami and pepperoni) were studied in 9 food-stores in Valladolid, Spain. Consumers of the products were interviewed (686 completed surveys). It was found by using mixed effect statistical models that the relationship between willingness to pay a premium price and customer satisfaction had nonlinear behavior, following an S-shape with inverted slope which was the first empirical evidence of this type of behavior in meat products in real market conditions. It was also established that the interaction between satisfaction and current expenditure on the product was significant and indispensable for explaining consumers' willingness to pay premium price for cured pork products. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. Policy Conference on Young Children: Conference Summary (Anchorage, AK, November 18-20, 1984).

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Alaska State Legislature, Juneau.

    The conference described addressed a wide range of key issues affecting young children and families; namely, child abuse, quality in pre-elementary programs, and responsibility for delivery of services. The document summarizes the policy issues identified by attendees of the 16 workshops and the addresses of the three major speakers (Dr. Donald C.…

  6. The Effects of Development Team Skill on Software Product Quality

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Beaver, Justin M.; Schiavone, Guy A.

    2006-01-01

    This paper provides an analysis of the effect of the skill/experience of the software development team on the quality of the final software product. A method for the assessment of software development team skill and experience is proposed, and was derived from a workforce management tool currently in use by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Using data from 26 smallscale software development projects, the team skill measures are correlated to 5 software product quality metrics from the ISO/IEC 9126 Software Engineering Product Quality standard. in the analysis of the results, development team skill is found to be a significant factor in the adequacy of the design and implementation. In addition, the results imply that inexperienced software developers are tasked with responsibilities ill-suited to their skill level, and thus have a significant adverse effect on the quality of the software product. Keywords: software quality, development skill, software metrics

  7. MixSIAR: advanced stable isotope mixing models in R

    EPA Science Inventory

    Background/Question/Methods The development of stable isotope mixing models has coincided with modeling products (e.g. IsoSource, MixSIR, SIAR), where methodological advances are published in parity with software packages. However, while mixing model theory has recently been ex...

  8. Formulation and process factors influencing product quality and in vitro performance of ophthalmic ointments.

    PubMed

    Xu, Xiaoming; Al-Ghabeish, Manar; Rahman, Ziyaur; Krishnaiah, Yellela S R; Yerlikaya, Firat; Yang, Yang; Manda, Prashanth; Hunt, Robert L; Khan, Mansoor A

    2015-09-30

    Owing to its unique anatomical and physiological functions, ocular surface presents special challenges for both design and performance evaluation of the ophthalmic ointment drug products formulated with a variety of bases. The current investigation was carried out to understand and identify the appropriate in vitro methods suitable for quality and performance evaluation of ophthalmic ointment, and to study the effect of formulation and process variables on its critical quality attributes (CQA). The evaluated critical formulation variables include API initial size, drug percentage, and mineral oil percentage while the critical process parameters include mixing rate, temperature, time and cooling rate. The investigated quality and performance attributes include drug assay, content uniformity, API particle size in ointment, rheological characteristics, in vitro drug release and in vitro transcorneal drug permeation. Using design of experiments (DoE) as well as a novel principle component analysis approach, five of the quality and performance attributes (API particle size, storage modulus of ointment, high shear viscosity of ointment, in vitro drug release constant and in vitro transcorneal drug permeation rate constant) were found to be highly influenced by the formulation, in particular the strength of API, and to a lesser degree by processing variables. Correlating the ocular physiology with the physicochemical characteristics of acyclovir ophthalmic ointment suggested that in vitro quality metrics could be a valuable predictor of its in vivo performance. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  9. Experimental and computational fluid dynamic studies of mixing for complex oral health products

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Garcia, Marti Cortada; Mazzei, Luca; Angeli, Panagiota

    2015-11-01

    Mixing high viscous non-Newtonian fluids is common in the consumer health industry. Sometimes this process is empirical and involves many pilot plants trials which are product specific. The first step to study the mixing process is to build on knowledge on the rheology of the fluids involved. In this research a systematic approach is used to validate the rheology of two liquids: glycerol and a gel formed by polyethylene glycol and carbopol. Initially, the constitutive equation is determined which relates the viscosity of the fluids with temperature, shear rate, and concentration. The key variable for the validation is the power required for mixing, which can be obtained both from CFD and experimentally using a stirred tank and impeller of well-defined geometries at different impeller speeds. A good agreement between the two values indicates a successful validation of the rheology and allows the CFD model to be used for the study of mixing in the complex vessel geometries and increased sizes encountered during scale up.

  10. The North East Regional Conference on Quality Educational Standards in Teaching. Summary Findings (Albany, March 7-8, 1969). QuEST Report Series, #1.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    American Federation of Teachers, Washington, DC.

    This booklet reports a workshop conference sponsored by the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) Council for Quality Educational Standards in Teaching (QuEST) to involve delegates from locals in clarifying and solving professional problems. Summary of the workshop on "The Diffuclut Child" includes description of the effects of disruptive children…

  11. American Productivity Center Computer Conference on Training and Productivity for the White House Conference on Productivity (Washington, D.C., September 22-23, 1983). Final Report.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    1983

    Delegates to this training computer conference agreed that the scope of economic change is both accelerating and profound and, therefore, will require a wide variety of approaches to human resource development. Training is only a small part of this development. To meet future needs, the conferees discussed and made recommendations in four areas:…

  12. Influence of manufacturing practices on quality of pharmaceutical products manufactured in Kenya.

    PubMed

    Orwa, J A; Keter, L K; Ouko, S P A; Kibwage, I O; Rukunga, G M

    2004-06-01

    To establish the quality of pharmaceutical products manufactured by the respective industries in Kenya and determine the effect of manufacturing practices on the quality of these products. Cross-sectional study. Industries examined are in Nairobi, Kenya. Laboratory analysis was carried out using available facilities at Kenya Medical Research Institute and University of Nairobi, Faculty of Pharmacy. Structured Questionnaires were administered to examine how the code of good manufacturing practices has been used in the production of each pharmaceutical product by respective companies. Questionnaires designed to evaluate the distribution and carry out limited post-market surveillance study were administered to community pharmacy outlets. Drugs were sampled and analyzed for their quality according to the respective monographs. The questionnaires administered to the industry included the source of raw materials, quarantine procedure before and after manufacture, manufacturing procedure, quality audit, quality assurance procedure, equipment, and staff. That administered to the pharmacy outlet included availability, affordability and acceptability of locally manufactured pharmaceutical products. Quality analysis of products involved the establishment of the chemical content, dissolution profile, friability, uniformity of weight and identity. For antibiotic suspensions the stability after reconstitution was also determined. There were 15 respondents and two non-respondents from the industry and six out of nine respondents from the pharmacy outlets. The ratio of qualified staff to product range produced seemed to influence product quality. Industries producing several products with only limited number of pharmaceutical staff had more products failing to comply with pharmacopoeia specifications compared to those producing only few products. Nevertheless, all companies are well equipped with quality control equipment, in accordance with type of product manufactured. Private

  13. International Perspectives on Quality Assurance and New Techniques in Radiation Medicine: Outcomes of an IAEA Conference

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Shortt, Ken; Davidsson, Lena; Hendry, Jolyon

    2008-05-01

    The International Atomic Energy Agency organized an international conference called, 'Quality Assurance and New Techniques in Radiation Medicine' (QANTRM). It dealt with quality assurance (QA) in all aspects of radiation medicine (diagnostic radiology, nuclear medicine, and radiotherapy) at the international level. Participants discussed QA issues pertaining to the implementation of new technologies and the need for education and staff training. The advantage of developing a comprehensive and harmonized approach to QA covering both the technical and the managerial issues was emphasized to ensure the optimization of benefits to patient safety and effectiveness. The necessary coupling between medical radiation imaging andmore » radiotherapy was stressed, particularly for advanced technologies. However, the need for a more systematic approach to the adoption of advanced technologies was underscored by a report on failures in intensity-modulated radiotherapy dosimetry auditing tests in the United States, which could imply inadequate implementation of QA for these new technologies. A plenary session addressed the socioeconomic impact of introducing advanced technologies in resource-limited settings. How shall the dual gaps, one in access to basic medical services and the other in access to high-quality modern technology, be addressed?.« less

  14. International perspectives on quality assurance and new techniques in radiation medicine: outcomes of an IAEA conference.

    PubMed

    Shortt, Ken; Davidsson, Lena; Hendry, Jolyon; Dondi, Maurizio; Andreo, Pedro

    2008-01-01

    The International Atomic Energy Agency organized an international conference called, "Quality Assurance and New Techniques in Radiation Medicine" (QANTRM). It dealt with quality assurance (QA) in all aspects of radiation medicine (diagnostic radiology, nuclear medicine, and radiotherapy) at the international level. Participants discussed QA issues pertaining to the implementation of new technologies and the need for education and staff training. The advantage of developing a comprehensive and harmonized approach to QA covering both the technical and the managerial issues was emphasized to ensure the optimization of benefits to patient safety and effectiveness. The necessary coupling between medical radiation imaging and radiotherapy was stressed, particularly for advanced technologies. However, the need for a more systematic approach to the adoption of advanced technologies was underscored by a report on failures in intensity-modulated radiotherapy dosimetry auditing tests in the United States, which could imply inadequate implementation of QA for these new technologies. A plenary session addressed the socioeconomic impact of introducing advanced technologies in resource-limited settings. How shall the dual gaps, one in access to basic medical services and the other in access to high-quality modern technology, be addressed?

  15. Highlights from the 2017 North American Cystic Fibrosis Conference.

    PubMed

    Martiniano, Stacey L; Toprak, Demet; Ong, Thida; Zemanick, Edith T; Daines, Cori L; Muhlebach, Marianne S; Esther, Charles R; Dellon, Elisabeth P

    2018-04-16

    The 31st annual North American Cystic Fibrosis Conference (NACFC) was held in Indianapolis, IN on November 2-4, 2017. Abstracts of presentations from the conference were published in a supplement to Pediatric Pulmonology [2017; Pediatr Pulmonol Suppl. 52: S1-S776]. The current review summarizes several major topic areas addressed at the conference: the pathophysiology and basic science of cystic fibrosis (CF) lung disease, clinical trials, clinical management issues, and quality improvement (QI). In this review, we describe emerging concepts in several areas of CF research and care. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  16. Enhanced polyhydroxyalkanoate production by mixed microbial culture with extended cultivation strategy.

    PubMed

    Huang, Long; Chen, Zhiqiang; Wen, Qinxue; Lee, Duu-Jong

    2017-10-01

    Low biomass output is a crucial reason for low polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) production in mixed microbial cultures (MMCs) PHA process. In this research, an extended cultivation strategy was proposed to rapidly expand the biomass yield of PHA accumulating MMCs and conserve the PHA accumulating ability simultaneously. High PHA content of the cultivated MMCs of 71.4% and 66.7% (higher than 62.1% of the seed biomass) in batch assays and biomass magnification of 43 and 52 were obtained after 10days of extended cultivation with and without sludge discharge, respectively. By embedding the extended cultivation process into the production process, a highly competitive PHA production performance in terms of overall PHA storage yield (0.49g CODPHA/gCODVFA) and volumetric productivity (1.21gPHA/L/d with final cell density of 17.22g/L) was achieved. The proposed PHA production process based on the extended cultivation can be a promising choice in industrial scale practice. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. Bimodule structure of the mixed tensor product over Uq sℓ (2 | 1) and quantum walled Brauer algebra

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bulgakova, D. V.; Kiselev, A. M.; Tipunin, I. Yu.

    2018-03-01

    We study a mixed tensor product 3⊗m ⊗3 ‾ ⊗ n of the three-dimensional fundamental representations of the Hopf algebra Uq sℓ (2 | 1), whenever q is not a root of unity. Formulas for the decomposition of tensor products of any simple and projective Uq sℓ (2 | 1)-module with the generating modules 3 and 3 ‾ are obtained. The centralizer of Uq sℓ (2 | 1) on the mixed tensor product is calculated. It is shown to be the quotient Xm,n of the quantum walled Brauer algebra qw Bm,n. The structure of projective modules over Xm,n is written down explicitly. It is known that the walled Brauer algebras form an infinite tower. We have calculated the corresponding restriction functors on simple and projective modules over Xm,n. This result forms a crucial step in decomposition of the mixed tensor product as a bimodule over Xm,n ⊠Uq sℓ (2 | 1). We give an explicit bimodule structure for all m , n.

  18. Development of a Drinkable, Peanut-Based Dietary Supplement and Comparison of Its Nutritional and Microbiological Qualities with Commercial Products.

    PubMed

    Klu, Yaa Asantewaa Kafui; Phillips, Robert D; Chen, Jinru

    2016-05-01

    This study was undertaken to formulate, using peanuts as a major ingredient, a beverage which will benefit older adults who are at a high risk of protein-energy malnutrition and other health complications, and to compare its nutritional and microbiological qualities to commercial products. Peanuts, rice flour, and flaxseed meal in a ratio of 48.0:49.8:2.2 were mixed with water (20% solids) and cooked into gruel which was sequentially treated with BAN(®) , (480 KNU-B/g, 75 °C 1 h), Alcalase(®) (2.4 AU-A/g, 60 °C 1 h), and Flavourzyme(®) (1000 LAPU/g, 55 °C 1 h) to predigest starch and protein, respectively. The degree of hydrolysis and product viscosity during hydrolysis was measured. The nutritional and microbiological qualities of the product were compared to 10 commercial products. Results indicate that 60% of starch was hydrolyzed while a total of 1.62% protein hydrolysis was observed. Product viscosity reduced from 228.55 to 3.60 cP at the end of hydrolysis. The formulation had no cholesterol and low sodium which was a functional property that was absent in the commercial products. Results of this study suggest that the formulation can be further optimized into a unique product that could cater for the protein needs and other nutritional requirements of older adults. © 2016 Institute of Food Technologists®

  19. Case-Mix and Quality Indicators in Chinese Elder Care Homes: Are There Differences between Government-owned and Private-sector Facilities?

    PubMed Central

    Liu, Chang

    2015-01-01

    Objective To assess the association between ownership of Chinese elder care facilities and their performance quality; and to compare the case-mix profile of residents and facility characteristics in government-owned and private-sector homes. Design Cross-sectional study. Setting Census of elder care homes surveyed in Nanjing (in 2009) and Tianjin (in 2010). Population 140 (or 95% of all) elder care facilities located in urban Nanjing, and 157 (or 97% of all) facilities in urban Tianjin. Main study outcome measures We created a summary case-mix index based on activities of daily living (ADL) limitations and cognitive impairment to measure levels of care needs among residents in each facility. We selected structure, process, and outcome measures to assess facility-level quality of care. We also developed a structural quality measure, under-staffing relative to residents’ levels of care needs, which indicates potentially inadequate staffing given the residents’ case-mix. Results Government-owned homes have significantly higher occupancy rates, presumably reflecting popular demand for publicly subsidized beds, but they serve residents who, on average, have fewer ADL and cognitive functioning limitations than do private-sector facilities. Across a range of structure, process, and outcome measures of quality, there is no clear evidence suggesting advantages or disadvantages to either ownership type. However, when staffing to resident ratio is gauged relative to residents’ case-mix, private-sector facilities were more likely to be under-staffed than government-owned facilities. Conclusions In Nanjing and Tianjin, private-sector homes were more likely to be understaffed, although their residents were sicker and frailer, on average, than those in government facilities. The case-mix differences are likely the result of selective admission policies that favor relatively healthier residents in government facilities than in private-sector homes. PMID:24433350

  20. Case-mix and quality indicators in Chinese elder care homes: are there differences between government-owned and private-sector facilities?

    PubMed

    Liu, Chang; Feng, Zhanlian; Mor, Vincent

    2014-02-01

    To assess the association between ownership of Chinese elder care facilities and their performance quality and to compare the case-mix profile of residents and facility characteristics in government-owned and private-sector homes. Cross-sectional study. Census of elder care homes surveyed in Nanjing (2009) and Tianjin (2010). Elder care facilities located in urban Nanjing (n = 140, 95% of all) and urban Tianjin (n = 157, 97% of all). A summary case-mix index based on activity of daily living (ADL) limitations and cognitive impairment was created to measure levels of care needs of residents in each facility. Structure, process, and outcome measures were selected to assess facility-level quality of care. A structural quality measure, understaffing relative to resident levels of care needs, which indicates potentially inadequate staffing given resident case-mix, was also developed. Government-owned homes had significantly higher occupancy rates, presumably reflecting popular demand for publicly subsidized beds, but served residents who, on average, have fewer ADL and cognitive functioning limitations than those in private-sector facilities. Across a range of structure, process, and outcome measures of quality, there is no clear evidence suggesting advantages or disadvantages of either ownership type, although when staffing-to-resident ratio is gauged relative to resident case-mix, private-sector facilities were more likely to be understaffed than government-owned facilities. In Nanjing and Tianjin, private-sector homes were more likely to be understaffed, although their residents were sicker and frailer on average than those in government facilities. It is likely that the case-mix differences are the result of selective admission policies that favor healthier residents in government facilities than in private-sector homes. © 2014, Copyright the Authors Journal compilation © 2014, The American Geriatrics Society.

  1. Optimum profit model considering production, quality and sale problem

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chen, Chung-Ho; Lu, Chih-Lun

    2011-12-01

    Chen and Liu ['Procurement Strategies in the Presence of the Spot Market-an Analytical Framework', Production Planning and Control, 18, 297-309] presented the optimum profit model between the producers and the purchasers for the supply chain system with a pure procurement policy. However, their model with a simple manufacturing cost did not consider the used cost of the customer. In this study, the modified Chen and Liu's model will be addressed for determining the optimum product and process parameters. The authors propose a modified Chen and Liu's model under the two-stage screening procedure. The surrogate variable having a high correlation with the measurable quality characteristic will be directly measured in the first stage. The measurable quality characteristic will be directly measured in the second stage when the product decision cannot be determined in the first stage. The used cost of the customer will be measured by adopting Taguchi's quadratic quality loss function. The optimum purchaser's order quantity, the producer's product price and the process quality level will be jointly determined by maximising the expected profit between them.

  2. HBCUs/OMUs Research Conference Agenda and Abstracts

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Dutta, Sunil (Compiler)

    2000-01-01

    The purpose of this Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) Research Conference was to provide an opportunity for principal investigators and their students to present research progress reports. The Abstracts included in this report indicate the range and quality of research topics such as aeropropulsion, space propulsion, space power, fluid dynamics, designs, structures and materials being funded through grants from Glenn Research Center to HBCUs. The conference generated extensive networking between students, principal investigators, Glenn technical monitors, and other Glenn researchers.

  3. HBCUs/OMUs Research Conference Agenda and Abstracts

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Dutta, Sunil (Compiler)

    2001-01-01

    The purpose of this Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) Research Conference was to provide an opportunity for principal investigators and their students to present research progress reports. The abstracts included in this report indicate the range and quality of research topics such as aeropropulsion, space propulsion, space power, fluid dynamics, designs, structures and materials being funded through grants from Glenn Research Center to HBCUs. The conference generated extensive networking between students, principal investigators, Glenn technical monitors, and other Glenn researchers.

  4. HBCUs/OMUs Research Conference Agenda and Abstracts

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Dutta, Sunil (Compiler)

    2003-01-01

    The purpose of this Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs/OMUs) Research Conference was to provide an opportunity for principal investigators and their students to present research progress reports. The abstracts included in this report indicate the range and quality of research topics such as aeropropulsion, space propulsion, space power, fluid dynamics, designs, structures and materials being funded through grants from Glenn Research Center to HBCUs. The conference generated extensive networking between students, principal investigators, Glenn technical monitors, and other Glenn researchers.

  5. Organic mixed conductors for bioelectronic applications (Conference Presentation)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rivnay, Jonathan

    2016-09-01

    Direct measurement and stimulation of electrophysiological activity is a staple of neural and cardiac health monitoring, diagnosis and/or therapy. The ability to sensitively detect these signals can be enhanced by organic electronic materials that show mixed conduction properties (both electronic and ionic transport) in order to bridge the inherent mismatch that is prevalent between biological systems and traditional microelectronic materials/devices. Organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs) are one class of devices that utilize organic mixed conductors as the transistor channel, and have shown considerable promise as amplifying transducers due to their stability in aqueous conditions and high transconductance. These devices are fabricated in flexible, conformable form factors for in vivo recordings of epileptic activity, and for cutaneous EEG and ECG recordings in human subjects. The majority of high performance devices are based on conducting polymers such as poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) :poly(styrenesulfonate), PEDOT:PSS. By investigating PEDOT-based materials and devices, we are able to construct design rules for new formulations/materials. Introducing glycolated side chains to carefully selected semiconducting polymer backbones has enabled a new class high performance bioelectronic materials that feature high volumetric capacitance, transconductance >10mS (device dimensions ca. 10um), and steep subthreshold switching characteristics. A sub-set of these materials outperform PEDOT:PSS and shows significant promise for low power in vitro and in vivo biosensing applications.

  6. Toward a More Human Way of Working in America. A Report on the National Conference of the American Quality of Work Life Association Convoked by the American Center for the Quality of Work Life (1st, Washington, D.C., May 20-22, 1977).

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zwerdling, Daniel

    Beginning an an informal, unstructured information interchange among 100 union, worker, and management representatives from seventeen public and private sector organizations operationally involved in quality of work life activities, a 1977 conference evolved into the first annual meeting of the American Quality of Work Life Association.…

  7. Improving quality and safety in nursing homes and home care: the study protocol of a mixed-methods research design to implement a leadership intervention.

    PubMed

    Wiig, Siri; Ree, Eline; Johannessen, Terese; Strømme, Torunn; Storm, Marianne; Aase, Ingunn; Ullebust, Berit; Holen-Rabbersvik, Elisabeth; Hurup Thomsen, Line; Sandvik Pedersen, Anne Torhild; van de Bovenkamp, Hester; Bal, Roland; Aase, Karina

    2018-03-28

    Nursing homes and home care face challenges across different countries as people are living longer, often with chronic conditions. There is a lack of knowledge regarding implementation and impact of quality and safety interventions as most research evidence so far is generated in hospitals. Additionally, there is a lack of effective leadership tools for quality and safety improvement work in this context. The aim of the 'Improving Quality and Safety in Primary Care-Implementing a Leadership Intervention in Nursing Homes and Homecare' (SAFE-LEAD) study is to develop and evaluate a research-based leadership guide for managers to increase quality and safety competence. The project applies a mixed-methods design and explores the implications of the leadership guide on managers' and staffs' knowledge, attitudes and practices. Four nursing homes and four home care services from different Norwegian municipalities will participate in the intervention. Surveys, process evaluation (interviews, observations) and document analyses will be conducted to evaluate the implementation and impact of the leadership intervention. A comparative study of Norway and the Netherlands will establish knowledge of the context dependency of the intervention. The study is approved by the Norwegian Centre for Research Data (2017/52324 and 54855). The results will be disseminated through scientific articles, two PhD dissertations, an anthology, presentations at national and international conferences, and in social media, newsletters and in the press. The results will generate knowledge to inform leadership practices in nursing homes and home care. Moreover, the study will build new theory on leadership interventions and the role of contextual factors in nursing homes and home care. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

  8. ASM Conference on Prokaryotic Development

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Kaplan, H. B.

    2005-07-13

    Support was provided by DOE for the 2nd ASM Conference on Prokaryotic Development. The final conference program and abstracts book is attached. The conference presentations are organized around topics that are central to the current research areas in prokaryotic development. The program starts with topics that involve relatively simple models systems and ends with systems that are more complex. The topics are: i) the cell cycle, ii) the cytoskeleton, iii) morphogenesis, iv) developmental transcription, v) signaling, vi) multicellularity, and vii) developmental diversity and symbiosis. The best-studied prokaryotic development model systems will be highlighted at the conference through research presentations bymore » leaders in the field. Many of these systems are also model systems of relevance to the DOE mission including carbon sequestration (Bradyrizobium, Synechococcus), energy production (Anabaena, Rhodobacter) and bioremediation (Caulobacter, Mesorhizobium). In addition, many of the highlighted organisms have important practical applications; the actinomycetes and myxobacteria produce antimicrobials that are of commercial interest. It is certain that the cutting-edge science presented at the conference will be applicable to the large group of bacteria relevant to the DOE mission.« less

  9. On the conditions of magma mixing and its bearing on andesite production in the crust.

    PubMed

    Laumonier, Mickael; Scaillet, Bruno; Pichavant, Michel; Champallier, Rémi; Andujar, Joan; Arbaret, Laurent

    2014-12-15

    Mixing between magmas is thought to affect a variety of processes, from the growth of continental crust to the triggering of volcanic eruptions, but its thermophysical viability remains unclear. Here, by using high-pressure mixing experiments and thermal calculations, we show that hybridization during single-intrusive events requires injection of high proportions of the replenishing magma during short periods, producing magmas with 55-58 wt% SiO2 when the mafic end-member is basaltic. High strain rates and gas-rich conditions may produce more felsic hybrids. The incremental growth of crustal reservoirs limits the production of hybrids to the waning stage of pluton assembly and to small portions of it. Large-scale mixing appears to be more efficient at lower crustal conditions, but requires higher proportions of mafic melt, producing more mafic hybrids than in shallow reservoirs. Altogether, our results show that hybrid arc magmas correspond to periods of enhanced magma production at depth.

  10. Wood Products by Species and Quality in Upland Forests

    Treesearch

    David W. Patterson

    2004-01-01

    Products that can be produced from an upland forest depend on the species and quality of the trees present. Quality depends on growth rate and tree form. These variables are discussed as well as the products that can be produced such as veneer and plywood, grade lumber, handle stock, pallet stock, cross ties, and industrial lumber.

  11. Effect of post-hatch transportation duration and parental age on broiler chicken quality, welfare, and productivity

    PubMed Central

    Jacobs, Leonie; Delezie, Evelyne; Duchateau, Luc; Goethals, Klara; Ampe, Bart; Lambrecht, Evelien; Gellynck, Xavier; Tuyttens, Frank A. M.

    2016-01-01

    Broiler chicks are transported to production sites within one to 2 d post-hatch. Possible effects of this transportation are poorly understood and could vary among chicks from breeder flocks of different ages. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of transportation duration and parental flock age on chick welfare, productivity, and quality. After hatch in a commercial hatchery, 1,620 mixed-sex chicks from 29-wk old (young) and 1,620 chicks from 60-wk old (old) breeders were subjected to transportation of 1.5 h or 11 h duration. After transportation, 2,800 chicks were divided among 100 pens, with each pen containing 28 chicks from one transportation crate (2 or 3 pens per crate). From the remaining chicks, on average 6 chicks (min 4, max 8) per crate (n = 228) were randomly selected and assessed for chick quality, weighed, and culled for yolk sac weighing (one d). Chicks that had not been assigned to pens or were not used for post-transportation measurements, were removed from the experiment (n = 212). Mortality, ADG, BW, and feed conversion (FC) of the experimental chicks were recorded until 41 d. Meat quality was measured for breast fillets (n = 47). No interaction effect of parental age and transportation duration was found for any variables. BW and yolk sac weight at one d were lower for chicks transported 11 h than 1.5 h and for chicks from young versus old breeders. The effect of parental flock age on BW persisted until slaughter. Additionally, parental age positively affected ADG until slaughter. Chick quality was lower in chicks from old versus young breeders. Chick quality and productivity were not affected by transportation duration. Mortality and meat quality were not affected by either parental age or transportation duration. To conclude, no long-term detrimental effects were found from long post-hatch transportation in chicks from young or old parent flocks. Based on these results, we suggest that 11 h post

  12. Effect of post-hatch transportation duration and parental age on broiler chicken quality, welfare, and productivity.

    PubMed

    Jacobs, Leonie; Delezie, Evelyne; Duchateau, Luc; Goethals, Klara; Ampe, Bart; Lambrecht, Evelien; Gellynck, Xavier; Tuyttens, Frank A M

    2016-09-01

    Broiler chicks are transported to production sites within one to 2 d post-hatch. Possible effects of this transportation are poorly understood and could vary among chicks from breeder flocks of different ages. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of transportation duration and parental flock age on chick welfare, productivity, and quality. After hatch in a commercial hatchery, 1,620 mixed-sex chicks from 29-wk old (young) and 1,620 chicks from 60-wk old (old) breeders were subjected to transportation of 1.5 h or 11 h duration. After transportation, 2,800 chicks were divided among 100 pens, with each pen containing 28 chicks from one transportation crate (2 or 3 pens per crate). From the remaining chicks, on average 6 chicks (min 4, max 8) per crate (n = 228) were randomly selected and assessed for chick quality, weighed, and culled for yolk sac weighing (one d). Chicks that had not been assigned to pens or were not used for post-transportation measurements, were removed from the experiment (n = 212). Mortality, ADG, BW, and feed conversion ( FC: ) of the experimental chicks were recorded until 41 d. Meat quality was measured for breast fillets (n = 47). No interaction effect of parental age and transportation duration was found for any variables. BW and yolk sac weight at one d were lower for chicks transported 11 h than 1.5 h and for chicks from young versus old breeders. The effect of parental flock age on BW persisted until slaughter. Additionally, parental age positively affected ADG until slaughter. Chick quality was lower in chicks from old versus young breeders. Chick quality and productivity were not affected by transportation duration. Mortality and meat quality were not affected by either parental age or transportation duration. To conclude, no long-term detrimental effects were found from long post-hatch transportation in chicks from young or old parent flocks. Based on these results, we suggest that 11 h post

  13. Proceedings from the 1998 Occupational Health Conference: Benchmarking for Excellence

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hoffler, G. Wyckliffe (Editor); O'Donnell, Michele D. (Editor)

    1999-01-01

    The theme of the 1998 NASA Occupational Health Conference was "Benchmarking for Excellence." Conference participants included NASA and contractor Occupational Health professionals, as well as speakers from NASA, other Federal agencies and private companies. Addressing the Conference theme, speakers described new concepts and techniques for corporate benchmarking. They also identified practices used by NASA, other Federal agencies, and by award winning programs in private industry. A two-part Professional Development Course on workplace toxicology and indoor air quality was conducted a day before the Conference. A program manager with the International Space Station Office provided an update on station activities and an expert delivered practical advice on both oral and written communications. A keynote address on the medical aspects of space walking by a retired NASA astronaut highlighted the Conference. Discipline breakout sessions, poster presentations, and a KSC tour complemented the Conference agenda.

  14. Energy Technology Training Conference Proceedings (Atlanta, Georgia, October 27-29, 1976).

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Oak Ridge Associated Universities, TN.

    Conference goals included identifying projected technical manpower needs and skill mix requirements, potential obstacles to developing an adequate technical education base, and stimulating education, industry, and labor cooperation in technical program development and federal interagency coordination and cooperation. Findings of the conference…

  15. Protein Aggregation and Its Impact on Product Quality

    PubMed Central

    Roberts, Christopher J.

    2014-01-01

    Protein pharmaceutical products are typically active as folded monomers that are composed of one or more protein chains, such as the heavy and light chains in monoclonal antibodies that are a mainstay of current drug pipelines. There are numerous possible aggregated states for a given protein, some of which are potentially useful, while most of which are considered deleterious from the perspective of pharmaceutical product quality and performance. This review provides an overview of how and why different aggregated states of proteins occur, how this potentially impacts product quality and performance, fundamental approaches to control aggregate formation, and the practical approaches that are currently used in the pharmaceutical industry. PMID:25173826

  16. Association between sleep quality and nurse productivity among Korean clinical nurses.

    PubMed

    Park, Eunok; Lee, Hyo Young; Park, Claire Su-Yeon

    2018-06-01

    To determine the association between sleep quality and nurse productivity. Although poor sleep quality may decrease nurses' productivity, the association between the two has not yet been evaluated in the literature. A cross-sectional survey was completed in May 2014 by 188 nurses working in acute hospitals in South Korea using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Descriptive statistics, t tests, ANOVA, Pearson's correlation, and stepwise multiple regression were conducted for data analysis. The prevalence of poor sleep quality was high (79.8%). Among the components of sleep quality, sleep disturbances (β = -0.19) and subjective sleep quality (β = -0.16) were determined to be statistically significant predictive factors of nurse productivity, in addition to shift work (β = -0.20) and age (β = 0.32). Poor sleep quality may lead to lower nurse productivity. Nurse leaders and executives should consider measures to improve nurses' sleep quality and enhance nurse productivity. Steps that need to be considered include longer intervals between shift-work cycles, clockwise scheduling order, a longer break time after night shift work, allowing nurses to nap before / during a night shift, and providing a worksite healthy sleep programme. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  17. Automated in-line mixing system for large scale production of chitosan-based polyplexes.

    PubMed

    Tavakoli Naeini, Ashkan; Soliman, Ousamah Younoss; Alameh, Mohamad Gabriel; Lavertu, Marc; Buschmann, Michael D

    2017-08-15

    Chitosan (CS)-based polyplexes are efficient non-viral gene delivery systems that are most commonly prepared by manual mixing. However, manual mixing is not only poorly controlled but also restricted to relatively small preparation volumes, limiting clinical applications. In order to overcome these drawbacks and to produce clinical quantities of CS-based polyplexes, a fully automated in-line mixing platform was developed for production of large batches of small-size and homogeneous CS-based polyplexes. Operational conditions to produce small-sized homogeneous polyplexes were identified. Increasing mixing concentrations of CS and nucleic acid was directly associated with an increase in size and polydispersity of both CS/pDNA and CS/siRNA polyplexes. We also found that although the speed of mixing has a negligible impact on the properties of CS/pDNA polyplexes, the size and polydispersity of CS/siRNA polyplexes are strongly influenced by the mixing speed: the higher the speed, the smaller the size and polydispersity. While in-line and manual CS/pDNA polyplexes had similar size and PDI, CS/siRNA polyplexes were smaller and more homogenous when prepared in-line in the non-laminar flow regime compared to manual method. Finally, we found that in-line mixed CS/siRNA polyplexes have equivalent or higher silencing efficiency of ApoB in HepG2 cells, compared to manually prepared polyplexes. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  18. Preference-based disease-specific health-related quality of life instrument for glaucoma: a mixed methods study protocol

    PubMed Central

    Muratov, Sergei; Podbielski, Dominik W; Jack, Susan M; Ahmed, Iqbal Ike K; Mitchell, Levine A H; Baltaziak, Monika; Xie, Feng

    2016-01-01

    Introduction A primary objective of healthcare services is to improve patients' health and health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Glaucoma, which affects a substantial proportion of the world population, has a significant detrimental impact on HRQoL. Although there are a number of glaucoma-specific questionnaires to measure HRQoL, none is preference-based which prevent them from being used in health economic evaluation. The proposed study is aimed to develop a preference-based instrument that is capable of capturing important effects specific to glaucoma and treatments on HRQoL and is scored based on the patients' preferences. Methods A sequential, exploratory mixed methods design will be used to guide the development and evaluation of the HRQoL instrument. The study consists of several stages to be implemented sequentially: item identification, item selection, validation and valuation. The instrument items will be identified and selected through a literature review and the conduct of a qualitative study. Validation will be conducted to establish psychometric properties of the instrument followed by a valuation exercise to derive utility scores for the health states described. Ethics and dissemination This study has been approved by the Trillium Health Partners Research Ethics Board (ID number 753). All personal information will be de-identified with the identification code kept in a secured location including the rest of the study data. Only qualified and study-related personnel will be allowed to access the data. The results of the study will be distributed widely through peer-reviewed journals, conferences and internal meetings. PMID:28186941

  19. Proceedings: Fourteenth annual EPRI conference on fuel science

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Not Available

    1990-05-01

    EPRI's Fourteenth Annual Contractors' Conference on Fuel Science was held on May 18--19, 1989 in Palo Alto, CA. The conference featured results of work on coal science, coal liquefaction, methanol production, and coal oil coprocessing and coal upgrading. The following topics were discussed: recent development in coal liquefaction at the Wilsonville Clean Coal Research Center; British coal's liquid solvent extraction (LSE) process; feedstock reactivity in coal/oil co-processing; utility applications for coal-oil coprocessed fuels; effect of coal rank and quality on two-stage liquefaction; organic sulfur compounds in coals; the perchloroethylene refining process of high-sulfur coals; extraction of sulfur coals; extraction ofmore » sulfur from coal; agglomeration of bituminous and subbituminous coals; solubilization of coals by cell-free extracts derived from polyporus versicolor; remediation technologies and services; preliminary results from proof-of-concept testing of heavy liquid cyclone cleaning technology; clean-up of soil contaminated with tarry/oily organics; midwest ore processing company's coal benefication technology: recent prep plant, scale and laboratory activities; combustion characterization of coal-oil agglomerate fuels; status report on the liquid phase methanol project; biomimetic catalysis; hydroxylation of C{sub 2} {minus} C{sub 3} and cycloc{sub 6} hydrocarbons with Fe cluster catalysts as models for methane monooxygenase enzyme; methanol production scenarios; and modeling studies of the BNL low temperature methanol catalyst. Individual projects are processed separately for the data bases.« less

  20. Quality Assessment of Collection 6 MODIS Atmospheric Science Products

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Manoharan, V. S.; Ridgway, B.; Platnick, S. E.; Devadiga, S.; Mauoka, E.

    2015-12-01

    Since the launch of the NASA Terra and Aqua satellites in December 1999 and May 2002, respectively, atmosphere and land data acquired by the MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) sensor on-board these satellites have been reprocessed five times at the MODAPS (MODIS Adaptive Processing System) located at NASA GSFC. The global land and atmosphere products use science algorithms developed by the NASA MODIS science team investigators. MODAPS completed Collection 6 reprocessing of MODIS Atmosphere science data products in April 2015 and is currently generating the Collection 6 products using the latest version of the science algorithms. This reprocessing has generated one of the longest time series of consistent data records for understanding cloud, aerosol, and other constituents in the earth's atmosphere. It is important to carefully evaluate and assess the quality of this data and remove any artifacts to maintain a useful climate data record. Quality Assessment (QA) is an integral part of the processing chain at MODAPS. This presentation will describe the QA approaches and tools adopted by the MODIS Land/Atmosphere Operational Product Evaluation (LDOPE) team to assess the quality of MODIS operational Atmospheric products produced at MODAPS. Some of the tools include global high resolution images, time series analysis and statistical QA metrics. The new high resolution global browse images with pan and zoom have provided the ability to perform QA of products in real time through synoptic QA on the web. This global browse generation has been useful in identifying production error, data loss, and data quality issues from calibration error, geolocation error and algorithm performance. A time series analysis for various science datasets in the Level-3 monthly product was recently developed for assessing any long term drifts in the data arising from instrument errors or other artifacts. This presentation will describe and discuss some test cases from the

  1. Impacts of Marcellus Shale Natural Gas Production on Regional Air Quality

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Swarthout, R.; Russo, R. S.; Zhou, Y.; Mitchell, B.; Miller, B.; Lipsky, E. M.; Sive, B. C.

    2012-12-01

    Natural gas is a clean burning alternative to other fossil fuels, producing lower carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions during combustion. Gas deposits located within shale rock or tight sand formations are difficult to access using conventional drilling techniques. However, horizontal drilling coupled with hydraulic fracturing is now widely used to enhance natural gas extraction. Potential environmental impacts of these practices are currently being assessed because of the rapid expansion of natural gas production in the U.S. Natural gas production has contributed to the deterioration of air quality in several regions, such as in Wyoming and Utah, that were near or downwind of natural gas basins. We conducted a field campaign in southwestern Pennsylvania on 16-18 June 2012 to investigate the impact of gas production operations in the Marcellus Shale on regional air quality. A total of 235 whole air samples were collected in 2-liter electropolished stainless- steel canisters throughout southwestern Pennsylvania in a regular grid pattern that covered an area of approximately 8500 square km. Day and night samples were collected at each grid point and additional samples were collected near active wells, flaring wells, fluid retention reservoirs, transmission pipelines, and a processing plant to assess the influence of different stages of the gas production operation on emissions. The samples were analyzed at Appalachian State University for methane (CH4), CO2, C2-C10 nonmethane hydrocarbons (NMHCs), C1-C2 halocarbons, C1-C5 alkyl nitrates and selected reduced sulfur compounds. In-situ measurements of ozone (O3), CH4, CO2, nitric oxide (NO), total reactive nitrogen (NOy), formaldehyde (HCHO), and a range of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were carried out at an upwind site and a site near active gas wells using a mobile lab. Emissions associated with gas production were observed throughout the study region. Elevated mixing ratios of CH4 and CO2 were observed in the

  2. Statistical quality assessment criteria for a linear mixing model with elliptical t-distribution errors

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Manolakis, Dimitris G.

    2004-10-01

    The linear mixing model is widely used in hyperspectral imaging applications to model the reflectance spectra of mixed pixels in the SWIR atmospheric window or the radiance spectra of plume gases in the LWIR atmospheric window. In both cases it is important to detect the presence of materials or gases and then estimate their amount, if they are present. The detection and estimation algorithms available for these tasks are related but they are not identical. The objective of this paper is to theoretically investigate how the heavy tails observed in hyperspectral background data affect the quality of abundance estimates and how the F-test, used for endmember selection, is robust to the presence of heavy tails when the model fits the data.

  3. Advanced scatter search approach and its application in a sequencing problem of mixed-model assembly lines in a case company

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Liu, Qiong; Wang, Wen-xi; Zhu, Ke-ren; Zhang, Chao-yong; Rao, Yun-qing

    2014-11-01

    Mixed-model assembly line sequencing is significant in reducing the production time and overall cost of production. To improve production efficiency, a mathematical model aiming simultaneously to minimize overtime, idle time and total set-up costs is developed. To obtain high-quality and stable solutions, an advanced scatter search approach is proposed. In the proposed algorithm, a new diversification generation method based on a genetic algorithm is presented to generate a set of potentially diverse and high-quality initial solutions. Many methods, including reference set update, subset generation, solution combination and improvement methods, are designed to maintain the diversification of populations and to obtain high-quality ideal solutions. The proposed model and algorithm are applied and validated in a case company. The results indicate that the proposed advanced scatter search approach is significant for mixed-model assembly line sequencing in this company.

  4. Plant growth response in experimental soilless mixes prepared from coal combustion products and organic waste materials

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Bardhan, S.; Watson, M.; Dick, W.A.

    2008-07-15

    Large quantities of organic materials such as animal manures, yard trimmings, and biosolids are produced each year. Beneficial use options for them are often limited, and composting has been proposed as a way to better manage these organic materials. Similarly, burning of coal created 125 million tons of coal combustion products (CCP) in the United States in 2006. An estimated 53 million tons of CCP were reused, whereas the remainder was deposited in landfills. By combining CCP and composted organic materials (COM), we were able to create soilless plant growth mixes with physicochemical conditions that can support excellent plant growth.more » An additional benefit is the conservation of natural raw materials, such as peat, which is generally used for making soilless mixes. Experimental mixes were formulated by combining CCP and COM at ratios ranging from 2:8 to 8:2 (vol/vol), respectively. Water content at saturation for the created mixes was 63% to 72%, whereas for the commercial control, it was 77%. pH values for the best performing mixes ranged between 5.9 and 6.8. Electrical conductivity and concentrations of required plant nutrient were also within plant growth recommendations for container media. Significantly (P < 0.0001) higher plant biomass growth (7%-130%) was observed in the experimental mixes compared with a commercial mix. No additional fertilizers were provided during the experiment, and reduced fertilization costs can thus accrue as an added benefit to the grower. In summary, combining CCP and COM, derived from source materials often viewed as wastes, can create highly productive plant growth mixes.« less

  5. Quantifying subtropical North Pacific gyre mixed layer primary productivity from Seaglider observations of diel oxygen cycles

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nicholson, David P.; Wilson, Samuel T.; Doney, Scott C.; Karl, David M.

    2015-05-01

    Using autonomous underwater gliders, we quantified diurnal periodicity in dissolved oxygen, chlorophyll, and temperature in the subtropical North Pacific near the Hawaii Ocean Time-series (HOT) Station ALOHA during summer 2012. Oxygen optodes provided sufficient stability and precision to quantify diel cycles of average amplitude of 0.6 µmol kg-1. A theoretical diel curve was fit to daily observations to infer an average mixed layer gross primary productivity (GPP) of 1.8 mmol O2 m-3 d-1. Cumulative net community production (NCP) over 110 days was 500 mmol O2 m-2 for the mixed layer, which averaged 57 m in depth. Both GPP and NCP estimates indicated a significant period of below-average productivity at Station ALOHA in 2012, an observation confirmed by 14C productivity incubations and O2/Ar ratios. Given our success in an oligotrophic gyre where biological signals are small, our diel GPP approach holds promise for remote characterization of productivity across the spectrum of marine environments.

  6. Productivity improvement and quality enhancement at NASA

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Braunstein, D. R.

    1985-01-01

    NASA's Productivity Improvement and Quality Enhancement (PIQE) effort has as its objectives the encouragement of greater employee participation in management decision-making and the identification of impediments as well as opportunities for high productivity. Attempts are also made to try out novel management practices, and to evolve productivity trend analysis techniques. Every effort is made to note, reward, and diffuse successfully instituted PIQE approaches throughout the NASA-contractor organization.

  7. Realization of high quality production schedules: Structuring quality factors via iteration of user specification processes

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hamazaki, Takashi

    1992-01-01

    This paper describes an architecture for realizing high quality production schedules. Although quality is one of the most important aspects of production scheduling, it is difficult, even for a user, to specify precisely. However, it is also true that the decision as to whether a scheduler is good or bad can only be made by the user. This paper proposes the following: (1) the quality of a schedule can be represented in the form of quality factors, i.e. constraints and objectives of the domain, and their structure; (2) quality factors and their structure can be used for decision making at local decision points during the scheduling process; and (3) that they can be defined via iteration of user specification processes.

  8. PREFACE: 10th Joint Conference on Chemistry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    2016-02-01

    The 10th Joint Conference on Chemistry is an international conference organized by 4 chemistry departments of 4 universities in central Java, Indonesia. The universities are Sebelas Maret University, Diponegoro University, Semarang State University and Soedirman University. The venue was at Solo, Indonesia, at September 8-9, 2015. The total conference participants are 133 including the invited speakers. The conference emphasized the multidisciplinary chemical issue and impact of today's sustainable chemistry which covering the following topics: • Material innovation for sustainable goals • Development of renewable and sustainable energy based on chemistry • New drug design, experimental and theoretical methods • Green synthesis and characterization of material (from molecule to functionalized materials) • Catalysis as core technology in industry • Natural product isolation and optimization

  9. Implementing Quality Criteria in Designing and Conducting a Sequential Quan [right arrow] Qual Mixed Methods Study of Student Engagement with Learning Applied Research Methods Online

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ivankova, Nataliya V.

    2014-01-01

    In spite of recent methodological developments related to quality assurance in mixed methods research, practical examples of how to implement quality criteria in designing and conducting sequential QUAN [right arrow] QUAL mixed methods studies to ensure the process is systematic and rigorous remain scarce. This article discusses a three-step…

  10. Metafrontier frameworks for studying hospital productivity growth and quality changes.

    PubMed

    Chen, Kuan-Chen; Chien, Li-Nien; Hsu, Yi-Hsin; Yu, Ming-Miin

    2016-12-01

    The objective of this study was to evaluate productivity growth and quality changes among different levels of accredited hospitals. This study used an attribute-incorporating Malmquist productivity index (MPI) under the metafrontier framework. This is the first attempt to compare productivity changes among hospitals operating under different production frontiers. The data consisted of 20 academic medical centers (AMCs), 61 metropolitan hospitals (MPs) and 112 local community hospitals (LCs) in Taiwan during the period 2007-2010. This study measured productivity growth and further identified technological gaps and catch-ups in different groups of hospitals with respect to the metafrontier. At the same time, comparisons of changes in quality among different levels of hospitals were also examined. We found that the sample hospitals of AMCs and MPs experienced productivity improvements mainly due to technological progress, but their efficiency and technology gap ratio (TGR) deteriorated. As for LCs, progress in technology along with improvements in their efficiency and TGR led to the highest productivity upgrade among the three groups of hospitals. We also found that the sample hospitals among the three groups showed improvements in quality. Moreover, hospitals in the local community group exhibited greater quality progress than the AMCs and MPs over the sample period. This paper presents a number of useful decompositions of the metafrontier MPI, which can provide useful insights into changes that are due to efficiency, quality improvements and/or technological changes in the healthcare sector. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press in association with the International Society for Quality in Health Care. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com

  11. Higher order corrections to mixed QCD-EW contributions to Higgs boson production in gluon fusion

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bonetti, Marco; Melnikov, Kirill; Tancredi, Lorenzo

    2018-03-01

    We present an estimate of the next-to-leading-order (NLO) QCD corrections to mixed QCD-electroweak contributions to the Higgs boson production cross section in gluon fusion, combining the recently computed three-loop virtual corrections and the approximate treatment of real emission in the soft approximation. We find that the NLO QCD corrections to the mixed QCD-electroweak contributions are nearly identical to NLO QCD corrections to QCD Higgs production. Our result confirms an earlier estimate of these O (α αs2) effects by Anastasiou et al. [J. High Energy Phys. 04 (2009) 003, 10.1088/1126-6708/2009/04/003] and provides further support for the factorization approximation of QCD and electroweak corrections.

  12. Torque-mixing magnetic resonance spectroscopy (Conference Presentation)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Losby, Joseph; Fani Sani, Fatemeh; Grandmont, Dylan T.; Diao, Zhu; Belov, Miro; Burgess, Jacob A.; Compton, Shawn R.; Hiebert, Wayne K.; Vick, Doug; Mohammad, Kaveh; Salimi, Elham; Bridges, Gregory E.; Thomson, Douglas J.; Freeman, Mark R.

    2016-10-01

    An optomechanical platform for magnetic resonance spectroscopy will be presented. The method relies on frequency mixing of orthogonal RF fields to yield a torque amplitude (arising from the transverse component of a precessing dipole moment, in analogy to magnetic resonance detection by electromagnetic induction) on a miniaturized resonant mechanical torsion sensor. In contrast to induction, the method is fully broadband and allows for simultaneous observation of the equilibrium net magnetic moment alongside the associated magnetization dynamics. To illustrate the method, comprehensive electron spin resonance spectra of a mesoscopic, single-crystal YIG disk at room temperature will be presented, along with situations where torque spectroscopy can offer complimentary information to existing magnetic resonance detection techniques. The authors are very grateful for support from NSERC, CRC, AITF, and NINT. Reference: Science 350, 798 (2015).

  13. Exploration of OMI Products for Air Quality Applications Through Comparisons with Models and Observations

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Pickering, K. E.; Ziemke, J.; Bucsela, E.; Gleason, J.; Marufu, L.; Dickerson, R.; Mathur, R.; Davidson, P.; Duncan, B.; Bhartia, P. K.

    2006-01-01

    The Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) on board NASA s Aura satellite was launched in July 2004, and is now providing daily global observations of total column ozone, NO2, and SO2, as well as aerosol information. Algorithms have also been developed to produce daily tropospheric ozone and NO2 products. The tropospheric ozone product reported here is a tropospheric residual computed through use of Aura Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) ozone profile data to quantify stratospheric ozone. We are investigating the applicability of OMI products for use in air quality modeling, forecasting, and analysis. These investigations include comparison of the OMI tropospheric O3 and NO2 products with global and regional models and with lower tropospheric aircraft observations. Large-scale transport of pollution seen in the OM1 tropospheric O3 data is compared with output from NASA's Global Modeling Initiative global chemistry and transport model. On the regional scale we compare the OMI tropospheric O3 and NO2 with fields from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Environmental Protection Agency (NOAA/EPA) operational Eta/CMAQ air quality forecasting model over the eastern United States. This 12-km horizontal resolution model output is roughly of equivalent resolution to the OMI pixel data. Correlation analysis between lower tropospheric aircraft O3 profile data taken by the University of Maryland over the Mid-Atlantic States and OMI tropospheric column mean volume mixing ratio for O3 will be presented. These aircraft data are representative of the lowest 3 kilometers of the atmosphere, the region in which much of the locally-generated and regionally-transported ozone exists.

  14. Activation product analysis in a mixed sample containing both fission and neutron activation products

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Morrison, Samuel S.; Clark, Sue B.; Eggemeyer, Tere A.

    Activation analysis of gold (Au) is used to estimate neutron fluence resulting from a criticality event; however, such analyses are complicated by simultaneous production of other gamma-emitting fission products. Confidence in neutron fluence estimates can be increased by quantifying additional activation products such as platinum (Pt), tantalum (Ta), and tungsten (W). This work describes a radiochemical separation procedure for the determination of these activation products. Anion exchange chromatography is used to separate anionic forms of these metals in a nitric acid matrix; thiourea is used to isolate the Au and Pt fraction, followed by removal of the Ta fraction usingmore » hydrogen peroxide. W, which is not retained on the first anion exchange column, is transposed to an HCl/HF matrix to enhance retention on a second anion exchange column and finally eluted using HNO3/HF. Chemical separations result in a reduction in the minimum detectable activity by a factor of 287, 207, 141, and 471 for 182Ta, 187W, 197Pt, and 198Au respectively, with greater than 90% recovery for all elements. These results represent the highest recoveries and lowest minimum detectable activities for 182Ta, 187W, 197Pt, and 198Au from mixed fission-activation product samples to date, enabling considerable refinement in the measurement uncertainties for neutron fluences in highly complex sample matrices.« less

  15. Bio-oil upgrading strategies to improve PHA production from selected aerobic mixed cultures.

    PubMed

    Moita Fidalgo, Rita; Ortigueira, Joana; Freches, André; Pelica, João; Gonçalves, Magarida; Mendes, Benilde; Lemos, Paulo C

    2014-06-25

    Recent research on polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) has focused on developing cost-effective production processes using low-value or industrial waste/surplus as substrate. One of such substrates is the liquid fraction resulting from pyrolysis processes, bio-oil. In this study, valorisation of bio-oil through PHA production was investigated. The impact of the complex bio-oil matrix on PHA production by an enriched mixed culture was examined. The performance of the direct utilization of pure bio-oil was compared with the utilization of three defined substrates contained in this bio-oil: acetate, glucose and xylose. When compared with acetate, bio-oil revealed lower capacity for polymer production as a result of a lower polymer yield on substrate and a lower PHA cell content. Two strategies for bio-oil upgrade were performed, anaerobic fermentation and vacuum distillation, and the resulting liquid streams were tested for polymer production. The first one was enriched in volatile fatty acids and the second one mainly on phenolic and long-chain fatty acids. PHA accumulation assays using the upgraded bio-oils attained polymer yields on substrate similar or higher than the one achieved with acetate, although with a lower PHA content. The capacity to use the enriched fractions for polymer production has yet to be optimized. The anaerobic digestion of bio-oil could also open-up the possibility to use the fermented bio-oil directly in the enrichment process of the mixed culture. This would increase the selective pressure toward an optimized PHA accumulating culture selection. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  16. Introduction to NASA Symposium on Productivity and Quality

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Braunstein, David

    1984-01-01

    The discussions will concentrate on white-collar organizational issues common to large organizations. The program will address a number of management issues for improving our nation's productivity and quality, and therefore its competitive position. executives have contributed their time to share /their experience with you. In addition, the American Institute of Astronautics & Aeronautics corporate members have helped to organize the sessions. I am most grateful for this support. The NASA Administrator has set the goal for NASA to become a leader in productivity and quality.

  17. 7 CFR 58.149 - Alternate quality control programs for dairy products.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 3 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Alternate quality control programs for dairy products... and Grading Service 1 Operations and Operating Procedures § 58.149 Alternate quality control programs for dairy products. (a) When a plant has in operation an acceptable quality control program which is...

  18. High-performance thin layer chromatography to assess pharmaceutical product quality.

    PubMed

    Kaale, Eliangiringa; Manyanga, Vicky; Makori, Narsis; Jenkins, David; Michael Hope, Samuel; Layloff, Thomas

    2014-06-01

    To assess the sustainability, robustness and economic advantages of high-performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC) for quality control of pharmaceutical products. We compared three laboratories where three lots of cotrimoxazole tablets were assessed using different techniques for quantifying the active ingredient. The average assay relative standard deviation for the three lots was 1.2 with a range of 0.65-2.0. High-performance thin layer chromatography assessments are yielding valid results suitable for assessing product quality. The local pharmaceutical manufacturer had evolved the capacity to produce very high quality products. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  19. Product Quality Assurance for Off-Grid Lighting in Africa

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    World Bank; Mills, Evan; Mills, Evan

    Although the emergence of markets for high efficiency off-grid lighting technologies holds promise, realizing the potential of this opportunity on a long-term, sustainable basis requires careful attention to issues of product quality, consumer protection, and the potential for significant 'market spoiling', in anticipation of increases of sales of low cost, low performance off-grid lighting products. The goal of the Lighting Africa quality assurance workshop was to articulate strategies to mitigate the dangers of market spoiling and to explore ways to protect consumers from misleading advertising for sales of inferior, off-grid lighting products in the context of Lighting Africa's overarching objectivemore » to support the industry in developing a robust off-grid lighting market in Africa. The workshop resulted in the identification of two strategic approaches for meeting Lighting Africa quality assurance programmatic needs. The first strategy is intended to meet a short-term programmatic need for quality associated with requests for lighting products by bulk procurement agents, such as in a World Bank-financed project. The development of procurement specifications and test procedures that could be used in a quality/usability screening method in order to provide guidance for forthcoming large volume purchases emerged as the best solution to meet this need. Such approaches are used in World Bank-financed solar home systems (SHSs) projects in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and China, among others. However, unlike the SHSs which have multiple balance-of-system (BOS) components warranting the need for an array of specifications for individual components, stand alone lighting systems require specifications that are amenable to individual light points. To test this approach, Lighting Africa elected to use the technical specifications issued by the Photovoltaic Global Approval Program for solar lanterns that use CFL bulbs (PVRS11A) as the basis of qualifying such products. A

  20. An approach to revegetation of Egyptian deserts. III. Chemical processing of low quality dolomite rock for production of granulated compound fertilizer

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Estefan, S.F.; Awadalla, F.T.

    1989-01-01

    The low quality dolomite rock from Abu-Rawash, Giza, was reacted with sulfuric acid to prepare a compound fertilizer comprising all secondary nutrient and micronutrient elements. The fertilizer product was mixed with 20 weight percent of ground bentonite ore, and was granulated using potassium sulfate solution as binder. Application of the new fertilizer for cultivating maize in sandy soil was very effective in improving the morphology of the plant. The compound fertilizer is recommended for reclamation of sandy soil.

  1. Foundations of chaotic mixing.

    PubMed

    Wiggins, Stephen; Ottino, Julio M

    2004-05-15

    The simplest mixing problem corresponds to the mixing of a fluid with itself; this case provides a foundation on which the subject rests. The objective here is to study mixing independently of the mechanisms used to create the motion and review elements of theory focusing mostly on mathematical foundations and minimal models. The flows under consideration will be of two types: two-dimensional (2D) 'blinking flows', or three-dimensional (3D) duct flows. Given that mixing in continuous 3D duct flows depends critically on cross-sectional mixing, and that many microfluidic applications involve continuous flows, we focus on the essential aspects of mixing in 2D flows, as they provide a foundation from which to base our understanding of more complex cases. The baker's transformation is taken as the centrepiece for describing the dynamical systems framework. In particular, a hierarchy of characterizations of mixing exist, Bernoulli --> mixing --> ergodic, ordered according to the quality of mixing (the strongest first). Most importantly for the design process, we show how the so-called linked twist maps function as a minimal picture of mixing, provide a mathematical structure for understanding the type of 2D flows that arise in many micromixers already built, and give conditions guaranteeing the best quality mixing. Extensions of these concepts lead to first-principle-based designs without resorting to lengthy computations.

  2. State Policies and Planning to Increase Attainment, Quality, and Productivity

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lingenfelter, Paul E.

    2007-01-01

    This article examines why state planning and policy for higher education are increasingly focused on increasing educational attainment, quality, and the productivity of the system. It presents four "stories" which illustrate initiatives to improve attainment, quality, and productivity, but fall far short of exhausting the available material.

  3. Comparative life cycle assessment and financial analysis of mixed culture polyhydroxyalkanoate production.

    PubMed

    Gurieff, Nicholas; Lant, Paul

    2007-12-01

    A life cycle assessment and financial analysis of mixed culture PHA (PHA(MC)) and biogas production was undertaken based on treating an industrial wastewater. Internal rate of return (IRR) and non-renewable CO(2)eq emissions were used to quantify financial viability and environmental impact. PHA(MC) was preferable to biogas production for treating the specified industrial effluent. PHA(MC) was also financially attractive in comparison to pure culture PHA production. Both PHA production processes had similar environmental impacts that were significantly lower than HDPE production. A large potential for optimisation exists for the PHA(MC) process as financial and environmental costs were primarily due to energy use for downstream processing. Under the conditions used in this work PHA(MC) was shown to be a viable biopolymer production process and an effective industrial wastewater treatment technology. This is the first study of its kind and provides valuable insight into the PHA(MC) process.

  4. Monitoring Quality of Biotherapeutic Products Using Multivariate Data Analysis.

    PubMed

    Rathore, Anurag S; Pathak, Mili; Jain, Renu; Jadaun, Gaurav Pratap Singh

    2016-07-01

    Monitoring the quality of pharmaceutical products is a global challenge, heightened by the implications of letting subquality drugs come to the market on public safety. Regulatory agencies do their due diligence at the time of approval as per their prescribed regulations. However, product quality needs to be monitored post-approval as well to ensure patient safety throughout the product life cycle. This is particularly complicated for biotechnology-based therapeutics where seemingly minor changes in process and/or raw material attributes have been shown to have a significant effect on clinical safety and efficacy of the product. This article provides a perspective on the topic of monitoring the quality of biotech therapeutics. In the backdrop of challenges faced by the regulatory agencies, the potential use of multivariate data analysis as a tool for effective monitoring has been proposed. Case studies using data from several insulin biosimilars have been used to illustrate the key concepts.

  5. 9 CFR 162.12 - Informal conference.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 9 Animals and Animal Products 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Informal conference. 162.12 Section 162.12 Animals and Animal Products ANIMAL AND PLANT HEALTH INSPECTION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE ACCREDITATION OF VETERINARIANS AND SUSPENSION OR REVOCATION OF SUCH ACCREDITATION RULES OF PRACTICE GOVERNING REVOCATION OR SUSPENSION OF...

  6. Heavy neutrino mixing and single production at linear collider

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gluza, J.; Maalampi, J.; Raidal, M.; Zrałek, M.

    1997-02-01

    We study the single production of heavy neutrinos via the processes e- e+ -> νN and e- γ -> W- N at future linear colliders. As a base of our considerations we take a wide class of models, both with vanishing and non-vanishing left-handed Majorana neutrino mass matrix mL. We perform a model independent analyses of the existing experimental data and find connections between the characteristic of heavy neutrinos (masses, mixings, CP eigenvalues) and the mL parameters. We show that with the present experimental constraints heavy neutrino masses almost up to the collision energy can be tested in the future experiments.

  7. Quality challenges associated with microbial-based cleaning products from the Industry Perspective.

    PubMed

    Teasdale, Steve M; Kademi, Ali

    2018-06-01

    Microbial-based cleaning products (MBCPs) continue to gain popularity in the market as environmentally friendly cleaners. The majority of these products contain spores of various Bacillus species. Although the microorganisms used in MBCPs are subject to regulation in Canada under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, the products themselves are not. Unlike other types of microbial products such as probiotics and biopesticides, the use, manufacture and quality parameters of MBCPs in Canada and other countries are poorly defined and not specifically subject to any required standards. Due to their complexity and nature, these products feature unique quality challenges. We noted the existing MBCPs we analyzed vary vastly in quality; external microbial contaminants, viability of the spores and the biocompatibility of the ingredients are issues that greatly affect product quality. A proper taxonomic identification of the bacterial species used also seems to be a major challenge for a number of manufacturers. A good understanding of the mechanisms governing these quality challenges and the adoption of good practices for the cultivation, harvesting, formulation, and manufacture of these types of products are essential for achieving high-quality performance standards. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. 77 FR 58983 - Notice of Telephonic Prehearing Conference

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-09-25

    ... CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION [CPSC Docket No. 12-1] Notice of Telephonic Prehearing Conference AGENCY: U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: Notice of telephonic... standards, regulations, and consumer product safety rules; (11) Disclosure of the names of witnesses and of...

  9. Effect of paratuberculosis on culling, milk production, and milk quality in dairy herds.

    PubMed

    Hendrick, Steven H; Kelton, David F; Leslie, Ken E; Lissemore, Kerry D; Archambault, Marie; Duffield, Todd F

    2005-10-15

    To determine the effect of paratuberculosis on culling, milk production, and milk quality in infected dairy herds. Cross-sectional study. 689 lactating dairy cows in 9 herds. Milk, blood, and fecal samples were obtained from all cows. Fecal samples were evaluated via mycobacterial culture. Serum samples were tested with a commercially available ELISA for antibodies against Mycobacterium avium subsp paratuberculosis, and preserved milk samples were tested with an ELISA for antibodies against M paratuberculosis. Mixed effect and proportional hazards models were used to determine the effect of paratuberculosis on 305-day milk, fat, and protein production; somatic cell count linear score; and the risk of culling. Cows with positive results of bacteriologic culture of feces and milk ELISA produced less milk, fat, and protein, compared with herdmates with negative results. No difference in 305-day milk or fat production was detected in cows with positive results of serum ELISA, compared with seronegative cows. The 3 survival analyses revealed that cows with positive results of each test were at higher risk of being culled than cows with negative results. Paratuberculosis status, as determined by use of all 3 diagnostic tests, was not associated with milk somatic cell count linear score. Results suggest that for the 9 herds in this study, paratuberculosis significantly decreased milk production and cow longevity.

  10. The sixth conference on satellite meteorology and oceanography

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Hauth, F.F.; Purdom, J.F.W.

    The Sixth Conference on Satellite Meteorology and Oceanography was held in conjunction with the AMS Annual Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, the week of 6 January 1992. Over 150 scientific papers were presented orally or in poster sessions. Joint sessions were held with the Symposium on Weather Forecasting and the Eighth International Conference on Interactive Information and Processing Systems for Meteorology, Oceanography, and Hydrology. The quality of the papers in the preprint volume, as well as in the presentations at both oral and poster sessions, reflects the robustness of national and international operational and research interests in satellite meteorology and oceanography.more » A preprint volume for this conference is available through the AMS.« less

  11. The effect of case mix and quality on cost differences between hospital-based and freestanding nursing homes.

    PubMed

    Schlenker, R; Shaughnessy, P; Yslas, I

    1983-01-01

    The considerably higher cost per patient day in hospital-based compared with freestanding nursing homes is well known. In this study, data from a random sample of 1,843 patients from 78 freestanding and hospital-based nursing homes in Colorado were used to explore the extent to which this higher cost can be explained by differences in case mix and quality of care. These differences were found to be associated with approximately 40% of the difference in cost, with case mix accounting for the majority of this effect. Although these findings are based on data from one state, they strongly suggest that Medicare and Medicaid nursing home policies should take case mix into account in reimbursing hospital-based and freestanding nursing homes.

  12. PREFACE: 7th International Conference on 3D Radiation Dosimetry (IC3DDose)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Thwaites, David; Baldock, Clive

    2013-06-01

    IC3DDose 2013, the 7th International Conference on 3D Radiation Dosimetry held in Sydney, Australia from 4-8 November 2012, grew out of the DosGel series, which began as DosGel99, the 1st International Workshop on Radiation Therapy Gel Dosimetry in Lexington, Kentucky. Since 1999 subsequent DoSGel conferences were held in Brisbane, Australia (2001), Ghent, Belgium (2004), Sherbrooke, Canada (2006) and Crete, Greece (2008). In 2010 the conference was held on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina and underwent a name-change to IC3DDose. The aim of the first workshop was to bring together individuals, both researchers and users, with an interest in 3D radiation dosimetry techniques, with a mix of presentations from basic science to clinical applications, which has remained an objective for all of the meetings. One rationale of DosGel99 was stated as supporting the increasing clinical implementation of gel dosimetry, as the technique appeared, at that time, to be leaving the laboratories of gel dosimetry enthusiasts and entering clinical practice. Clearly by labelling the first workshop as the 1st, there was a vision of a continuing series, which has been fulfilled. On the other hand, the expectation of widespread clinical use of gel dosimetry has perhaps not been what was hoped for and anticipated. Nevertheless the rapidly increasing demand for advanced high-precision 3D radiotherapy technology and techniques has continued apace. The need for practical and accurate 3D dosimetry methods for development and quality assurance has only increased. By the 6th meeting, held in South Carolina in 2010, the Conference Scientific Committee recognised the wider developments in 3D systems and methods and decided to widen the scope, whilst keeping the same span from basic science to applications. This was signalled by a change of name from 'Dosgel' to 'IC3DDose', a name that has continued to this latest conference. The conference objectives were: to enhance the quality and accuracy of

  13. Smart investments in sustainable food production: revisiting mixed crop-livestock systems.

    PubMed

    Herrero, M; Thornton, P K; Notenbaert, A M; Wood, S; Msangi, S; Freeman, H A; Bossio, D; Dixon, J; Peters, M; van de Steeg, J; Lynam, J; Parthasarathy Rao, P; Macmillan, S; Gerard, B; McDermott, J; Seré, C; Rosegrant, M

    2010-02-12

    Farmers in mixed crop-livestock systems produce about half of the world's food. In small holdings around the world, livestock are reared mostly on grass, browse, and nonfood biomass from maize, millet, rice, and sorghum crops and in their turn supply manure and traction for future crops. Animals act as insurance against hard times and supply farmers with a source of regular income from sales of milk, eggs, and other products. Thus, faced with population growth and climate change, small-holder farmers should be the first target for policies to intensify production by carefully managed inputs of fertilizer, water, and feed to minimize waste and environmental impact, supported by improved access to markets, new varieties, and technologies.

  14. Domains of core competency, standards, and quality assurance for building global capacity in health promotion: the galway consensus conference statement.

    PubMed

    Allegrante, John P; Barry, Margaret M; Airhihenbuwa, Collins O; Auld, M Elaine; Collins, Janet L; Lamarre, Marie-Claude; Magnusson, Gudjon; McQueen, David V; Mittelmark, Maurice B

    2009-06-01

    This paper reports the outcome of the Galway Consensus Conference, an effort undertaken as a first step toward international collaboration on credentialing in health promotion and health education. Twenty-nine leading authorities in health promotion, health education, and public health convened a 2-day meeting in Galway, Ireland, during which the available evidence on credentialing in health promotion was reviewed and discussed. Conference participants reached agreement on core values and principles, a common definition, and eight domains of core competency required to engage in effective health promotion practice. The domains of competency are catalyzing change, leadership, assessment, planning, implementation, evaluation, advocacy, and partnerships. The long-term aim of this work is to stimulate a global dialogue that will lead to the development and widespread adoption of standards and quality assurance systems in all countries to strengthen capacity in health promotion, a critical element in achieving goals for the improvement of global population health.

  15. Experimental and computational fluid dynamics studies of mixing of complex oral health products

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cortada-Garcia, Marti; Migliozzi, Simona; Weheliye, Weheliye Hashi; Dore, Valentina; Mazzei, Luca; Angeli, Panagiota; ThAMes Multiphase Team

    2017-11-01

    Highly viscous non-Newtonian fluids are largely used in the manufacturing of specialized oral care products. Mixing often takes place in mechanically stirred vessels where the flow fields and mixing times depend on the geometric configuration and the fluid physical properties. In this research, we study the mixing performance of complex non-Newtonian fluids using Computational Fluid Dynamics models and validate them against experimental laser-based optical techniques. To this aim, we developed a scaled-down version of an industrial mixer. As test fluids, we used mixtures of glycerol and a Carbomer gel. The viscosities of the mixtures against shear rate at different temperatures and phase ratios were measured and found to be well described by the Carreau model. The numerical results were compared against experimental measurements of velocity fields from Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) and concentration profiles from Planar Laser Induced Fluorescence (PLIF).

  16. Status of trauma quality improvement programs in the Americas: a survey of trauma care providers.

    PubMed

    Zetlen, Hilary L; LaGrone, Lacey N; Foianini, Jorge Esteban; Egoavil, Eduardo Huaman; Sproviero, Jorge; Rivera, Felipe Vega; Mock, Charles N

    2017-12-01

    Global disparities in trauma care contribute to significant morbidity and mortality (M&M) in low- and middle-income countries. Implementation of quality improvement (QI) programs has been shown to be a cost-effective strategy to improve trauma care quality. In this study, we aim to characterize the trauma QI programs in a broad range of low- to high-income countries in the Americas to assess areas for targeted improvement in global trauma QI efforts. We conducted a mixed methods survey of trauma care providers in North and South America distributed in-person at trauma care conferences and online via a secure survey platform. Responses were analyzed to observe differences across respondent country income categories. One hundred ninety-two surveys were collected, representing 21 different countries from three income strata (three lower-middle-, eleven upper-middle-, and eight high-income countries). Respondents were primarily physicians or physicians-in-training (85%). Eighty-nine percent of respondents worked at an institution where M&M conferences occurred. M&M conferences were significantly more frequent at higher income levels (P = 0.002), as was attending physician presence at M&M conferences (70% in high-income countries versus 43% in lower-middle-income countries). There were also significant differences in the structure, quality, and follow-up of M&M conferences in lower versus higher income countries. Sixty-three percent of respondents reported observing some kind of positive change at their institution due to M&M conferences. The survey also suggested significantly higher utilization of autopsy (P < 0.001) and electronic trauma registries (P = 0.01) at higher income levels. This survey demonstrated an encouraging pattern of widespread adoption of trauma QI programs in several countries in North and South America. However, there continue to be significant disparities in the structure and function of trauma QI efforts in low- and middle-income countries

  17. 78 FR 2258 - Notice of Telephonic Prehearing Conference

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-01-10

    ... CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION [CPSC Docket No. 13-1] Notice of Telephonic Prehearing Conference AGENCY: U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: Notice of telephonic..., regulations, and consumer product safety rules; (11) Disclosure of the names of witnesses and of documents or...

  18. Thirteenth annual U.S. DOE low-level radioactive waste management conference: Proceedings

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    NONE

    1991-12-31

    The 40 papers in this document comprise the proceedings of the Department of Energy`s Thirteenth Annual Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management Conference that was held in Atlanta, Georgia, on November 19--21, 1991. General subjects addressed during the conference included: disposal facility design; greater-than-class C low-level waste; public acceptance considerations; waste certification; site characterization; performance assessment; licensing and documentation; emerging low-level waste technologies; waste minimization; mixed waste; tracking and transportation; storage; and regulatory changes. Papers have been processed separately for inclusion on the data base.

  19. Human Values and the Environment: Conference Proceedings (Madison, Wisconsin, October 1-3, 1992). Report 140.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wisconsin Univ., Madison. Inst. for Environmental Studies.

    The Human Values and the Environment Conference grew out of growing concern about the accelerating deterioration of global environmental quality and the danger of building of a value-free approach to how the environment should be managed. The conference's steering committee tailored the conference to consider some of humanity's religious and…

  20. Optimization of light quality from color mixing light-emitting diode systems for general lighting

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Thorseth, Anders

    2012-03-01

    Given the problem of metamerisms inherent in color mixing in light-emitting diode (LED) systems with more than three distinct colors, a method for optimizing the spectral output of multicolor LED system with regards to standardized light quality parameters has been developed. The composite spectral power distribution from the LEDs are simulated using spectral radiometric measurements of single commercially available LEDs for varying input power, to account for the efficiency droop and other non-linear effects in electrical power vs. light output. The method uses electrical input powers as input parameters in a randomized steepest decent optimization. The resulting spectral power distributions are evaluated with regard to the light quality using the standard characteristics: CIE color rendering index, correlated color temperature and chromaticity distance. The results indicate Pareto optimal boundaries for each system, mapping the capabilities of the simulated lighting systems with regard to the light quality characteristics.

  1. Continuous production of ethanol from hexoses and pentoses using immobilized mixed cultures of Escherichia coli strains

    PubMed Central

    Unrean, Pornkamol; Srienc, Friedrich

    2010-01-01

    We have developed highly efficient ethanologenic E. coli strains that selectively consume pentoses and/or hexoses. Mixed cultures of these strains can be used to selectively adjust the sugar utilization kinetics in ethanol fermentations. Based on the kinetics of sugar utilization, we have designed and implemented an immobilized cell system for the optimized continuous conversion of sugars into ethanol. The results confirm that immobilized mixed cultures support a simultaneous conversion of hexoses and pentoses into ethanol at high yield and at a faster rate than immobilized homogenous cells. Continuous ethanol production has been maintained for several weeks at high productivity with near complete sugar utilization. The control of sugar utilization using immobilized mixed cultures can be adapted to any composition of hexoses and pentoses by adjusting the strain distribution of immobilized cells. The approach, therefore, holds promise for ethanol fermentation from lignocellulosic hydrolysates where the feedstock varies in sugar composition. PMID:20699108

  2. International Conference on Harmonisation; guidance on the M4 Common Technical Document--Quality: Questions and Answers/Location Issues; availability. Notice.

    PubMed

    2004-06-09

    The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is announcing the availability of a guidance entitled "M4: The CTD--Quality: Questions and Answers/Location Issues." The guidance was prepared under the auspices of the International Conference on Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Registration of Pharmaceuticals for Human Use (ICH). This guidance provides further clarification for preparing the quality components of an application file in the common technical document (CTD) format. The guidance addresses the relationship between linked sections for certain parameters (such as polymorphism and particle size), and it addresses location issues (by indicating the section in which to place requested information). The guidance is intended to ease the preparation of paper and electronic submissions, facilitate regulatory reviews, and simplify the exchange of regulatory information among regulatory authorities.

  3. Burden of impaired sleep quality on work productivity in functional dyspepsia.

    PubMed

    Matsuzaki, Juntaro; Suzuki, Hidekazu; Togawa, Koji; Yamane, Tsuyoshi; Mori, Hideki; Komori, Takahiro; Masaoka, Tatsuhiro; Kanai, Takanori

    2018-04-01

    Impaired sleep quality is common, and can reduce work productivity in patients with functional dyspepsia (FD). The objective of this article is to evaluate whether there is a direct association between the presence of FD and the severity of impaired sleep quality, and to calculate the economic loss due to the decreased work productivity associated with sleep quality. In Study 1, using a web-based survey completed by workers with and without FD, we evaluated impaired sleep quality, work and daily productivity, and the severity of reflux and bowel symptoms. In Study 2, the association between the presence of FD and the severity of impaired sleep quality was validated in a hospital-based cohort. In both Study 1 and 2, although impaired sleep quality was more frequent in participants with FD than in those without FD, the independent association between the presence of FD and the severity of impaired sleep quality was not observed after adjustment for the severity of reflux and bowel symptoms. FD participants with impaired sleep quality reported additional economic loss of 53,500 Japanese yen/month. Although the association between impaired sleep quality and FD was indirect, concomitant impaired sleep quality could worsen economic loss.

  4. Impact of Case Mix Severity on Quality Improvement in a Patient-centered Medical Home (PCMH) in the Maryland Multi-Payor Program.

    PubMed

    Khanna, Niharika; Shaya, Fadia T; Chirikov, Viktor V; Sharp, David; Steffen, Ben

    2016-01-01

    We present data on quality of care (QC) improvement in 35 of 45 National Quality Forum metrics reported annually by 52 primary care practices recognized as patient-centered medical homes (PCMHs) that participated in the Maryland Multi-Payor Program from 2011 to 2013. We assigned QC metrics to (1) chronic, (2) preventive, and (3) mental health care domains. The study used a panel data design with no control group. Using longitudinal fixed-effects regressions, we modeled QC and case mix severity in a PCMH. Overall, 35 of 45 quality metrics reported by 52 PCMHs demonstrated improvement over 3 years, and case mix severity did not affect the achievement of quality improvement. From 2011 to 2012, QC increased by 0.14 (P < .01) for chronic, 0.15 (P < .01) for preventive, and 0.34 (P < .01) for mental health care domains; from 2012 to 2013 these domains increased by 0.03 (P = .06), 0.04 (P = .05), and 0.07 (P = .12), respectively. In univariate analyses, lower National Commission on Quality Assurance PCMH level was associated with higher QC for the mental health care domain, whereas case mix severity did not correlate with QC. In multivariate analyses, higher QC correlated with larger practices, greater proportion of older patients, and readmission visits. Rural practices had higher proportions of Medicaid patients, lower QC, and higher QC improvement in interaction analyses with time. The gains in QC in the chronic disease domain, the preventive care domain, and, most significantly, the mental health care domain were observed over time regardless of patient case mix severity. QC improvement was generally not modified by practice characteristics, except for rurality. © Copyright 2016 by the American Board of Family Medicine.

  5. Fourth International Conference: Modern Vaccines/Adjuvants Formulation--Impact on Future Development: May 15-17 2013, CHUV, Lausanne, Switzerland.

    PubMed

    Tupin, Emmanuel

    2013-09-01

    On the 15-17th of May 2013, about 120 scientists, postdoctoral fellows and professors representing renowned academic institutes and senior scientists and executives from small biotechs, contract research organizations (CROs) and Big Pharma companies, gathered at the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CHUV) in Lausanne, Switzerland for the 4th international conference on Modern Vaccines and Adjuvants Formulation. Despite this relative small number, the speakers and attendees covered together a very broad field of expertise. Indeed, experts in microbiology, immunology, biochemistry, formulation, virus and nanoparticle characterization, vaccine production, quality control as well as regulatory professionals attended the conference and were able to present their works and discuss new developments within the field of vaccine and adjuvant development, characterization and approval process. This broad diversity was a highpoint of the conference and allowed for a stimulating environment and underlined the complexity of the challenges that the field currently faces in order to develop better or completely new vaccines and adjuvants.

  6. Enhancing moderate-resolution ocean color products over coastal/inland waters (Conference Presentation)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pahlevan, Nima; Schott, John R.; Zibordi, Giuseppe

    2016-10-01

    With the successful launch of Landsat-8 in 2013 followed by a very recent launch of Sentinel-2A, we are entering a new area where frequent moderate resolution water quality products over coastal/inland waters will be available to scientists and operational agencies. Although designed for land observations, the Operational Land Imager (OLI) has proven to provide high-fidelity products in these aquatic systems where coarse-resolution ocean color imagers fail to provide valid observations. High-quality, multi-scale ocean color products can give insights into the biogeochemical/physical processes from the upstream in watersheds, into near-shore regions, and further out in ocean basins. In this research, we describe a robust cross-calibration approach, which facilitates seamless ocean color products at multi scales. The top-of-atmosphere (TOA) OLI imagery is cross-calibrated against near-simultaneous MODIS and VIIRS ocean color observations in high-latitude regions. This allows for not only examining the overall relative performance of OLI but also for characterizing non-uniformity (i.e., banding) across its swath. The uncertainty of this approach is, on average, found to be less than 0.5% in the blue channels. The adjustments made for OLI TOA reflectance products are then validated against in-situ measurements of remote sensing reflectance collected in research cruises or at the AERONET-OC.

  7. 7 CFR 58.735 - Quality specifications for raw materials.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... specifications of the finished product. (b) Swiss. Swiss cheese used in the manufacture of pasteurized process... Swiss cheese. (d) Cream cheese, Neufchatel cheese. Mixed with other foods, or used for spreads and dips... Service 1 Requirements for Processed Cheese Products Bearing Usda Official Identification § 58.735 Quality...

  8. 7 CFR 58.735 - Quality specifications for raw materials.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... specifications of the finished product. (b) Swiss. Swiss cheese used in the manufacture of pasteurized process... Swiss cheese. (d) Cream cheese, Neufchatel cheese. Mixed with other foods, or used for spreads and dips... Service 1 Requirements for Processed Cheese Products Bearing Usda Official Identification § 58.735 Quality...

  9. 7 CFR 58.735 - Quality specifications for raw materials.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... specifications of the finished product. (b) Swiss. Swiss cheese used in the manufacture of pasteurized process... Swiss cheese. (d) Cream cheese, Neufchatel cheese. Mixed with other foods, or used for spreads and dips... Service 1 Requirements for Processed Cheese Products Bearing Usda Official Identification § 58.735 Quality...

  10. Evaluation of Environmental Quality Productive Ecosystem Guayas (Ecuador).

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pozo, Wilson; Pardo, Francisco; Sanfeliu, Teófilo; Carrera, Gloria; Jordan, Manuel; Bech, Jaume; Roca, Núria

    2015-04-01

    Natural resources are deteriorating very rapidly in the Gulf of Guayaquil and the area of influence in the Guayas Basin due to human activity. Specific problems are generated by the mismanagement of the aquaculture industry affecting the traditional agricultural sectors: rice, banana, sugarcane, cocoa, coffee, and soya also studied, and by human and industrial settlements. The development of industrial activities such as aquaculture (shrimp building for shrimp farming in ponds) and agriculture, have increasingly contributed to the generation of waste, degrading and potentially toxic elements in high concentrations, which can have adverse effects on organisms in the ecosystems, in the health of the population and damage the ecological and environmental balance. The productive Guayas ecosystem, consists of three interrelated ecosystems, the Gulf of Guayaquil, the Guayas River estuary and the Guayas Basin buffer. The objective of this study was to evaluate the environmental quality of the productive Guayas ecosystem (Ecuador), through operational and specific objectives: 1) Draw up the transition coastal zone in the Gulf of Guayaquil, 2) Set temporal spatial variability of soil salinity in wetlands rice, Lower Guayas Basin, 3) evaluate the heavy metals in wetland rice in the Lower Basin of Guayas. The physical and chemical parameters of the soils have been studied. These are indicators of environmental quality. The multivariate statistical method showed the relations of similarities and dissimilarities between variables and parameter studies as stable. Moreover, the boundaries of coastal transition areas, temporal spatial variability of soil salinity and heavy metals in rice cultivation in the Lower Basin of Guayas were researched. The sequential studies included and discussed represent a broad framework of fundamental issues that has been valued as a basic component of the productive Guayas ecosystem. They are determinants of the environmental quality of the Guayas

  11. A Study Into the Effects of Various Compost-Potting Soil Mixes in An Effort to Heighten Bio-Productivity and Lower Farm Expenses

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Valva, C.; Zhang, A.; Mahajan, S.; Ammini, K.; Ho, J.; Lo, D.

    2015-12-01

    The Stanford farm is a small, sustainably run farm that prioritizes producing high-quality crops in an environmentally sustainable way. This experiment focuses on the soil used to germinate and cultivate crops in a controlled greenhouse environment. It was conducted with the objective of determining which ratio of compost to potting mix is most favorable in terms of both cost and biological productivity. The five ratios of compost to potting mix were created as follows: (1) 100% compost; (2) 75% compost and 25% potting mix; (3) 50% compost and 50% potting mix; (4) 25% compost and 75% potting mix; and (5) 100% potting mix. Three different crops with distinct needs were used in the experiment: an Indonesian cultivar of Cosmos flowers (Cosmos sp.), a heritage American Corn cultivar (Zea mays), and Ojo de Cabra beans (Phaseolus vulgaris). Ten pots of the corn, ten pots of the beans, and ten pots of the cosmos flowers were planted in each of the soil ratios mentioned above. The pots were placed in the greenhouse and watered regularly and equally by the greenhouse watering system. The experiment is ongoing and is not yet completed. However, thus far the results indicate that 75% compost and 25% potting mix is the most favorable ratio; the corn, bean, and cosmos plants grown using this ratio not only had the highest germination rate (90% of corn seeds, 90% of bean seeds, and 100% of cosmos seeds) but also had the highest average upward growth. According to data taken August 3, 2015, the corn plants grown using the 75:25 compost to potting mix ratio were the tallest by an average of 10.67cm, the beans grown in this ratio were tallest by an average of 3.96cm, and the cosmos were tallest by an average of 0.14 cm. As compost is a cheaper alternative to potting mix, using a compost-based soil would save the farm money while also maximizing plant growth.

  12. Wastewater microalgal production, nutrient removal and physiological adaptation in response to changes in mixing frequency.

    PubMed

    Sutherland, Donna L; Turnbull, Matthew H; Broady, Paul A; Craggs, Rupert J

    2014-09-15

    Laminar flows are a common problem in high rate algal ponds (HRAP) due to their long channels and gentle mixing by a single paddlewheel. Sustained laminar flows may modify the amount of light microalgal cells are exposed to, increase the boundary layer between the cell and the environment and increase settling out of cells onto the pond bottom. To date, there has been little focus on the effects of the time between mixing events (frequency of mixing) on the performance of microalgae in wastewater treatment HRAPs. This paper investigates the performance of three morphologically distinct microalgae in wastewater treatment high rate algal mesocosms operated at four different mixing frequencies (continuous, mixed every 45 min, mixed every 90 min and no mixing). Microalgal performance was measured in terms of biomass concentration, nutrient removal efficiency, light utilisation and photosynthetic performance. Microalgal biomass increased significantly with increasing mixing frequency for the two colonial species but did not differ for the single celled species. All three species were more efficient at NH4-N uptake as the frequency of mixing increased. Increased frequency of mixing supported larger colonies with improved harvest-ability by gravity but at the expense of efficient light absorption and maximum rate of photosynthesis. However, maximum quantum yield was highest in the continuously mixed cultures due to higher efficiency of photosynthesis under light limited conditions. Based on these results, higher microalgal productivity, improved wastewater treatment and better gravity based harvest-ability can be achieved with the inclusion of more mixing points and reduced laminar flows in full-scale HRAP. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  13. 9 CFR 147.43 - General Conference Committee.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 9 Animals and Animal Products 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false General Conference Committee. 147.43 Section 147.43 Animals and Animal Products ANIMAL AND PLANT HEALTH INSPECTION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE LIVESTOCK IMPROVEMENT AUXILIARY PROVISIONS ON NATIONAL POULTRY IMPROVEMENT PLAN Procedure for...

  14. Lipid production by pure and mixed cultures of Chlorella pyrenoidosa and Rhodotorula mucilaginosa isolated in Nuevo Leon, Mexico.

    PubMed

    Reyna-Martínez, Raúl; Gomez-Flores, Ricardo; López-Chuken, Ulrico J; González-González, Rosario; Fernández-Delgadillo, Sergio; Balderas-Rentería, Isaias

    2015-01-01

    Given the well-known environmental drawbacks of using fossil fuels, advances in the field of alternative energy have become a worldwide technological priority. Special interest has been focused on the production of biodiesel obtained from oleaginous microorganisms. In the present research, lipid production by two species, microalgae Chlorella pyrenoidosa and yeast Rhodotorula mucilaginosa was assessed, independently and in mixed culture to evaluate a possible synergy. Fatty acid analysis was performed by gas chromatography. Among pure and mixed cultures of both strains and several culturing conditions, the highest biomass and lipid productivity was obtained by C. pyrenoidosa (8.05 and 1.62 g/L, respectively). The results of this study showed that both strains used are in fact oleaginous strains as they were found to reach up to 20 % of lipids, in addition, lipids in both pure and mixed cultures were mainly of triglycerides (>90 %), composed of fatty acid chains between 16 and 18 carbons.

  15. National GAP Conference 2007-Discussion Groups Report

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Ratz, Joan M.; Lamb, Berton Lee

    2010-01-01

    We led two discussion groups during the 2007 National GAP Conference. These discussion groups provided information to help develop a survey of National Gap Analysis Program (GAP) data users. One group discussed technical issues, and the second group discussed the use of GAP data for decisionmaking. Themes emerging from the technical issues group included concerns about data quality, need for information on how to use data, and passive data distribution. The decisionmaking discussion included a wide range of topics including the need to understand presentation of information, the need to connect with and understand users of data, the revision of GAP's mission, and the adaptability of products and data. The decisionmaking group also raised concerns regarding technical issues. One conclusion is that a deep commitment to ongoing information transfer and support is a key component of success for the GAP program.

  16. Light quality and efficiency of consumer grade solid state lighting products

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dam-Hansen, Carsten; Corell, Dennis Dan; Thorseth, Anders; Poulsen, Peter Behrensdorff

    2013-03-01

    The rapid development in flux and efficiency of Light Emitting Diodes (LED) has resulted in a flooding of the lighting market with Solid State Lighting (SSL) products. Many traditional light sources can advantageously be replaced by SSL products. There are, however, large variations in the quality of these products, and some are not better than the ones they are supposed to replace. A lack of quality demands and standards makes it difficult for consumers to get an overview of the SSL products. Here the results of a two year study investigating SSL products on the Danish market are presented. Focus has been on SSL products for replacement of incandescent lamps and halogen spotlights. The warm white light and good color rendering properties of these traditional light sources are a must for lighting in Denmark and the Nordic countries. 266 SSL replacement lamps have been tested for efficiency and light quality with respect to correlated color temperature and color rendering properties. This shows a trade-off between high color rendering warm white light and energy efficiency. The lumen and color maintenance over time has been investigated and results for products running over 11000 h will be presented. A new internet based SSL product selection tool will be shown. Here the products can be compared on efficiency, light quality parameters, thus providing a better basis for the selection of SSL products for consumers.

  17. Evaluation of Solvita compost stability and maturity tests for assessment of quality of end-products from mixed latrine style compost toilets

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Hill, Geoffrey B., E-mail: geoff.hill@geog.ubc.ca; Baldwin, Susan A.; Vinnerås, Bjorn

    2013-07-15

    Highlights: • Solvita® stability and maturity tests used on composting toilet end-product. • Solvita® ammonia better suited in evaluation of feedstock suitability for vermicomposting. • No clear value of Solvita® stability test due to prevalent inhibition of decomposition by ammonia. - Abstract: It is challenging and expensive to monitor and test decentralized composting toilet systems, yet critical to prevent the mismanagement of potentially harmful and pathogenic end-product. Recent studies indicate that mixed latrine composting toilets can be inhibited by high ammonia content, a product of urea hydrolysis. Urine-diverting vermicomposting toilets are better able to accomplish the goals of remote sitemore » human waste management by facilitating the consumption of fecal matter by earthworms, which are highly sensitive to ammonia. The reliability of Solvita® compost stability and maturity tests were evaluated as a means of determining feedstock suitability for vermicomposting (ammonia) and end-product stability/completeness (carbon dioxide). A significant linear regression between Solvita® ammonia and free ammonia gas was found. Solvita® ranking of maturity did not correspond to ranking assigned by ammonium:nitrate standards. Solvita® ammonia values 4 and 5 contained ammonia levels below earthworm toxicity limits in 80% and 100% of samples respectively indicative of their use in evaluating feedstock suitability for vermicomposting. Solvita® stability tests did not correlate with carbon dioxide evolution tests nor ranking of stability by the same test, presumably due to in situ inhibition of decomposition and microbial respiration by ammonia which were reported by the Solvita® CO{sub 2} test as having high stability values.« less

  18. Certification of production-quality gLite Job Management components

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Andreetto, P.; Bertocco, S.; Capannini, F.; Cecchi, M.; Dorigo, A.; Frizziero, E.; Giacomini, F.; Gianelle, A.; Mezzadri, M.; Molinari, E.; Monforte, S.; Prelz, F.; Rebatto, D.; Sgaravatto, M.; Zangrando, L.

    2011-12-01

    With the advent of the recent European Union (EU) funded projects aimed at achieving an open, coordinated and proactive collaboration among the European communities that provide distributed computing services, more strict requirements and quality standards will be asked to middleware providers. Such a highly competitive and dynamic environment, organized to comply a business-oriented model, has already started pursuing quality criteria, thus requiring to formally define rigorous procedures, interfaces and roles for each step of the software life-cycle. This will ensure quality-certified releases and updates of the Grid middleware. In the European Middleware Initiative (EMI), the release management for one or more components will be organized into Product Team (PT) units, fully responsible for delivering production ready, quality-certified software and for coordinating each other to contribute to the EMI release as a whole. This paper presents the certification process, with respect to integration, installation, configuration and testing, adopted at INFN by the Product Team responsible for the gLite Web-Service based Computing Element (CREAM CE) and for the Workload Management System (WMS). The used resources, the testbeds layout, the integration and deployment methods, the certification steps to provide feedback to developers and to grant quality results are described.

  19. Groundwater flow, quality (2007-10), and mixing in the Wind Cave National Park area, South Dakota

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Long, Andrew J.; Ohms, Marc J.; McKaskey, Jonathan D.R.G.

    2012-01-01

    A study of groundwater flow, quality, and mixing in relation to Wind Cave National Park in western South Dakota was conducted during 2007-11 by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the National Park Service because of water-quality concerns and to determine possible sources of groundwater contamination in the Wind Cave National Park area. A large area surrounding Wind Cave National Park was included in this study because to understand groundwater in the park, a general understanding of groundwater in the surrounding southern Black Hills is necessary. Three aquifers are of particular importance for this purpose: the Minnelusa, Madison, and Precambrian aquifers. Multivariate methods applied to hydrochemical data, consisting of principal component analysis (PCA), cluster analysis, and an end-member mixing model, were applied to characterize groundwater flow and mixing. This provided a way to assess characteristics important for groundwater quality, including the differentiation of hydrogeologic domains within the study area, sources of groundwater to these domains, and groundwater mixing within these domains. Groundwater and surface-water samples collected for this study were analyzed for common ions (calcium, magnesium, sodium, bicarbonate, chloride, silica, and sulfate), arsenic, stable isotopes of oxygen and hydrogen, specific conductance, and pH. These 12 variables were used in all multivariate methods. A total of 100 samples were collected from 60 sites from 2007 to 2010 and included stream sinks, cave drip, cave water bodies, springs, and wells. In previous approaches that combined PCA with end-member mixing, extreme-value samples identified by PCA typically were assumed to represent end members. In this study, end members were not assumed to have been sampled but rather were estimated and constrained by prior hydrologic knowledge. Also, the end-member mixing model was quantified in relation to hydrogeologic domains, which focuses model results on

  20. Identifying positive deviants in healthcare quality and safety: a mixed methods study.

    PubMed

    O'Hara, Jane K; Grasic, Katja; Gutacker, Nils; Street, Andrew; Foy, Robbie; Thompson, Carl; Wright, John; Lawton, Rebecca

    2018-01-01

    Objective Solutions to quality and safety problems exist within healthcare organisations, but to maximise the learning from these positive deviants, we first need to identify them. This study explores using routinely collected, publicly available data in England to identify positively deviant services in one region of the country. Design A mixed methods study undertaken July 2014 to February 2015, employing expert discussion, consensus and statistical modelling to identify indicators of quality and safety, establish a set of criteria to inform decisions about which indicators were robust and useful measures, and whether these could be used to identify positive deviants. Setting Yorkshire and Humber, England. Participants None - analysis based on routinely collected, administrative English hospital data. Main outcome measures We identified 49 indicators of quality and safety from acute care settings across eight data sources. Twenty-six indicators did not allow comparison of quality at the sub-hospital level. Of the 23 remaining indicators, 12 met all criteria and were possible candidates for identifying positive deviants. Results Four indicators (readmission and patient reported outcomes for hip and knee surgery) offered indicators of the same service. These were selected by an expert group as the basis for statistical modelling, which supported identification of one service in Yorkshire and Humber showing a 50% positive deviation from the national average. Conclusion Relatively few indicators of quality and safety relate to a service level, making meaningful comparisons and local improvement based on the measures difficult. It was possible, however, to identify a set of indicators that provided robust measurement of the quality and safety of services providing hip and knee surgery.

  1. Highlights of contractor initiatives in quality enhancement and productivity improvement

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1986-01-01

    The NASA/Contractor Team efforts are presented as part of NASA's continuing effort to facilitate the sharing of quality and productivity improvement ideas among its contractors. This complilation is not meant to be a comprehensive review of contractor initiative nor does it necessarily express NASA's views. The submissions represent samples from a general survey, and were not edited by NASA. The efforts are examples of quality and productivity programs in private industry, and as such, highlight company efforts in individual areas. Topics range from modernization of equipment, hardware, and technology to management of human resources. Of particular interest are contractor initiatives which deal with measurement and evaluation data pertaining to quality and productivity performance.

  2. Mixed microalgae consortia growth under higher concentration of CO2 from unfiltered coal fired flue gas: Fatty acid profiling and biodiesel production.

    PubMed

    Aslam, Ambreen; Thomas-Hall, Skye R; Manzoor, Maleeha; Jabeen, Faiza; Iqbal, Munawar; Uz Zaman, Qamar; Schenk, Peer M; Asif Tahir, M

    2018-02-01

    Biodiesel is produced by transesterification of fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) from oleaginous microalgae feedstock. Biodiesel fuel properties were studied and compared with biodiesel standards. Qualitative analysis of FAME was done while cultivating mixed microalgae consortia under three concentrations of coal fired flue gas (1%, 3.0% and 5.5% CO 2 ). Under 1% CO 2 concentration (flue gas), the FAME content was 280.3 μg/mL, whereas the lipid content was 14.03 μg/mL/D (day). Both FAMEs and lipid contents were low at other CO 2 concentrations (3.0 and 5.5%). However, mixed consortia in the presence of phosphate buffer and flue gas (PB + FG) showed higher saturated fatty acids (SFA) (36.28%) and unsaturated fatty acids (UFA) (63.72%) versus 5.5% CO 2 concentration, which might be responsible for oxidative stability of biodiesel. Subsequently, higher cetane number (52) and low iodine value (136.3 gI 2 /100 g) biodiesel produced from mixed consortia (PB + FG) under 5.5% CO 2 along with 50 mM phosphate buffer were found in accordance with European (EN 14214) standard. Results revealed that phosphate buffer significantly enhanced the biodiesel quality, but reduced the FAME yield. This study intended to develop an integrated approach for significant improvement in biodiesel quality under surplus phosphorus by utilizing waste flue gas (as CO 2 source) using microalgae. The CO 2 sequestration from industrial flue gas not only reduced greenhouse gases, but may also ensure the sustainable and eco-benign production of biodiesel. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  3. Second CLIPS Conference Proceedings, volume 2

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Giarratano, Joseph (Editor); Culbert, Christopher J. (Editor)

    1991-01-01

    Papers presented at the 2nd C Language Integrated Production System (CLIPS) Conference held at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) on 23-25 September 1991 are documented in these proceedings. CLIPS is an expert system tool developed by the Software Technology Branch at NASA JSC and is used at over 4000 sites by government, industry, and business. During the three days of the conference, over 40 papers were presented by experts from NASA, Department of Defense, other government agencies, universities, and industry.

  4. EDITORIAL: Electron Microscopy and Analysis Group Conference 2013 (EMAG2013)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nellist, Pete

    2014-06-01

    It has once again been my pleasure to act as editor for these proceedings, and I must thank all those who have acted as reviewers. I am always struck by the scientific quality of the oral and poster contributions and the vibrant discussions that occur both in the formal sessions and in the exhibition space at EMAG. I am convinced that a crucial part of maintaining that scientific quality is the opportunity that is offered of having a paper fully reviewed by two internationally selected referees and published in the Journal of Physics: Conference Series. For many students, this is the first fully reviewed paper they publish. I hope that, like me, you will be struck by the scientific quality of the 80 papers that follow, and that you will find them interesting and informative. I must also personally thank all the organisers of EMAG2013 for arranging such an excellent meeting. Ian MacLaren, as Chair of the EMAG Group and of the meeting itself, has contributed a foreword to these proceedings describing the meeting in more detail. A particular highlight of the conference was the special symposium in honour of Professor Archie Howie. We all enjoyed a wonderful speech from Archie at the conference dinner, along with some of his electron microscopy-related poetry. I have great pleasure in publishing the conference dinner poems in this proceedings. I hope you will find these proceedings to be an interesting read and an invaluable resource. Pete Nellist Conference committee Conference chair: Dr I MacLaren Programme organiser: Dr C Ducati Proceedings editor: Prof P D Nellist Trade exhibition organiser: C Hockey (CEM Group) Local organisers: Professor E Boyes, Professor P Gai, Dr R Kröger, Dr V Lazarov, Dr P O'Toole, Dr S Tear and Professor J Yuan Advanced school organisers: Dr S Haigh, Dr A Brown Other committee members: Mr K Meade, Mr O Heyning, Dr M Crawford, Mr M Dixon and Dr Z Li

  5. Resistance to neuraminidase inhibitors conferred by an R292K mutation in a human influenza virus H7N9 isolate can be masked by a mixed R/K viral population.

    PubMed

    Yen, H-L; McKimm-Breschkin, J L; Choy, K-T; Wong, D D Y; Cheung, P P H; Zhou, J; Ng, I H; Zhu, H; Webby, R J; Guan, Y; Webster, R G; Peiris, J S M

    2013-07-16

    We characterized the A/Shanghai/1/2013 virus isolated from the first confirmed human case of A/H7N9 disease in China. The A/Shanghai/1/2013 isolate contained a mixed population of R (65%; 15/23 clones) and K (35%; 8/23 clones) at neuraminidase (NA) residue 292, as determined by clonal sequencing. A/Shanghai/1/2013 with mixed R/K at residue 292 exhibited a phenotype that is sensitive to zanamivir and oseltamivir carboxylate by the enzyme-based NA inhibition assay. The plaque-purified A/Shanghai/1/2013 with dominant K292 (94%; 15/16 clones) showed sensitivity to zanamivir that had decreased by >30-fold and to oseltamivir carboxylate that had decreased by >100-fold compared to its plaque-purified wild-type counterpart possessing dominant R292 (93%, 14/15 clones). In Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells, the plaque-purified A/Shanghai/1/2013-NAK292 virus exhibited no reduction in viral titer under conditions of increasing concentrations of oseltamivir carboxylate (range, 0 to 1,000 µM) whereas the replication of the plaque-purified A/Shanghai/1/2013-NAR292 and the A/Shanghai/2/2013 viruses was completely inhibited at 250 µM and 31.25 µM of oseltamivir carboxylate, respectively. Although the plaque-purified A/Shanghai/1/2013-NAK292 virus exhibited lower NA enzyme activity and a higher Km for 2'-(4-methylumbelliferryl)-α-d-N-acetylneuraminic acid than the wild-type A/Shanghai/1/2013-NAR292 virus, the A/Shanghai/1/2013-NAK292 virus formed large plaques and replicated efficiently in vitro. Our results confirmed that the NA R292K mutation confers resistance to oseltamivir, peramivir, and zanamivir in the novel human H7N9 viruses. Importantly, detection of the resistance phenotype may be masked in the clinical samples containing a mixed population of R/K at NA residue 292 in the enzyme-based NA inhibition assay. The neuraminidase (NA) inhibitors oseltamivir and zanamivir are currently the front-line therapeutic options against the novel H7N9 influenza viruses, which

  6. Note: Application of CR-39 plastic nuclear track detectors for quality assurance of mixed oxide fuel pellets

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Kodaira, S., E-mail: koda@nirs.go.jp; Kurano, M.; Hosogane, T.

    A CR-39 plastic nuclear track detector was used for quality assurance of mixed oxide fuel pellets for next-generation nuclear power plants. Plutonium (Pu) spot sizes and concentrations in the pellets are significant parameters for safe use in the plants. We developed an automatic Pu detection system based on dense α-radiation tracks in the CR-39 detectors. This system would greatly improve image processing time and measurement accuracy, and will be a powerful tool for rapid pellet quality assurance screening.

  7. Production of Near-Mirror Surface Quality by Precision Grinding

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Dimofte, Florin; Krantz, Timothy

    2003-01-01

    Mechanical components such as gears and bearings operate with the working surfaces in intimate contact with a mating part. The performance of such components will be influenced by the quality of the working surface. In general, a smoother surface will perform better than a rougher surface since the lubrication conditions are improved. For example, surfaces with a special near-mirror quality finish of low roughness performed better than ground surfaces when tested using a block-on-ring arrangement. Bearings with near-mirror quality have been tested and analyzed; lower running torques were measured and improved fatigue life was anticipated. Experiments have been done to evaluate the performance of gears with improved, low roughness surface finishing. The measured performance improvements include an increased scuffing (scoring) load capacity by a factor of 1.6, a 30-percent reduction of gear tooth running friction, and longer fatigue lives by a factor of about four. One can also anticipate that near-mirror quality surface finishing could improve the performance of other mechanical components such as mechanical seals and heavily loaded journal bearings. Given these demonstrated benefits, capable and economical methods for the production of mechanical components with near-mirror quality surfaces are desired. One could propose the production of near-mirror quality surfaces by several methods such as abrasive polishing, chemical assisted polishing, or grinding. Production of the surfaces by grinding offers the possibility to control the macro-geometry (form), waviness, and surface texture with one process. The present study was carried out to investigate the possibility of producing near-mirror quality surfaces by grinding. The present study makes use of a specially designed grinding machine spindle to improve the surface quality relative to the quality produced when using a spindle of conventional design.

  8. Quantification of oxysterols in Dutch foods: egg products and mixed diets.

    PubMed

    van de Bovenkamp, P; Kosmeijer-Schuil, T G; Katan, M B

    1988-11-01

    A sensitive and specific method is described for quantifying various cholesterol oxidation products in foodstuffs, including 7 beta-hydroxycholesterol, cholesterol-alpha-epoxide, cholestane-triol, 7-ketocholesterol and 25-hydroxycholesterol. A chloroform-methanol extract of the food was fractionated over two successive silica columns. Two fractions containing different classes of oxysterols were then analyzed as trimethylsilyl derivatives by capillary gas liquid chromatography, using on-column injection and a temperature gradient from 70 to 200 degrees C. The detection limit was about 0.5 microgram/g dry weight for egg yolk powder. Fresh egg yolk contained only 1.2 micrograms/g of total oxides per g dry weight, showing that artifactual oxidation during the procedure was minimal. Recovery of 5 pure oxysterols added to egg yolk at levels of 6.5 and 10 micrograms/g was between 93 and 102%. In commercial egg yolk and whole egg powder stored for one year, total amounts of oxysterols ranging from 21 to 137 micrograms/g dry weight were found. In duplicates of mixed Dutch diets, total amounts ranged from 3.6 to 6.2 micrograms/g dry weight. Duplicates containing mostly fried and baked foods did not have higher levels than duplicates in which foods had been prepared by boiling or left raw. We conclude that a normal mixed diet provides only minor amounts of cholesterol oxidation products.

  9. The role of food quality assurance and product certification systems on marketing aspects

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Petrović, Z.; Milićević, D.; Nastasijević, I.; Đorđević, V.; Trbović, D.; Velebit, B.

    2017-09-01

    The level of quality that a product offers to consumers is a fundamental aspect of competition in many markets. Consumers’ confidence in the safety and quality of foods they buy and consume is a significant support to the economic development of production organizations of this type, and therefore the overall economic development. Consumer concerns about food safety as well as the globalization of food production have also led to the existence of a global internationally linked food production and distribution system. The necessity demanded by the consumer population to provide safe food with consistent quality at an attractive price imposes a choice of an appropriate quality assurance model in accordance with the specific properties of the product and the production processes. Modern trends, especially for the last ten years in quality assurance within specific production, such as the food industry, have marked the trend of hyperproduction and a number of production and safety standards, as well as a change of approach in the certification process of organizations according to one or more standards. This can be an additional source of costs for organizations, and can burden the food business operator`s budget in order to ensure their consistent application and maintenance. Quality assurance (QA) standards are considered to be a proven mechanism for delivering quality of product.

  10. Study of the Technical Feasibility of Increasing the Amount of Recycled Concrete Waste Used in Ready-Mix Concrete Production.

    PubMed

    Fraile-Garcia, Esteban; Ferreiro-Cabello, Javier; López-Ochoa, Luis M; López-González, Luis M

    2017-07-18

    The construction industry generates a considerable amount of waste. Faced with this undesirable situation, the ready-mix concrete sector, in particular, has invested energy and resources into reusing its own waste in its production process as it works towards the goal of more sustainable construction. This study examines the feasibility of incorporating two types of concrete waste, which currently end up in landfill, into the production process of ready-mix concrete: the waste generated during the initial production stage (ready-mix concrete waste), and waste created when demolition waste is treated to obtain artificial aggregate. The first phase of the study's methodology corroborates the suitability of the recycled aggregate through characterization tests. After this phase, the impact of incorporating different percentages of recycled coarse aggregate is evaluated by examining the performance of the produced concrete. The replacement rate varied between 15% and 50%. The results indicate that recycled aggregates are, indeed, suitable to be incorporated into ready-mix concrete production. The impact on the final product's performance is different for the two cases examined herein. Incorporating aggregates from generic concrete blocks led to a 20% decrease in the produced concrete's strength performance. On the other hand, using recycled aggregates made from the demolition waste led to a smaller decrease in the concrete's performance: about 8%. The results indicate that with adequate management and prior treatment, the waste from these plants can be re-incorporated into their production processes. If concrete waste is re-used, concrete production, in general, becomes more sustainable for two reasons: less waste ends up as landfill and the consumption of natural aggregates is also reduced.

  11. PREFACE: Electron Microscopy and Analysis Group Conference (EMAG2015)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    MacLaren, Ian

    2015-10-01

    2015 marked a new venture for the EMAG group of the Institute of Physics in that the conference was held in conjunction with the MMC2015 conference at the wonderful Manchester Central conference centre. As anyone who was there would be able to confirm, this went exceptionally well and was a really vibrant and top quality conference. The oral sessions were filled with good talks, the poster sessions were very lively, and there was a good balance between oral sessions with a specifically "EMAG" identity, and the integration into a larger conference with the ability to switch between up to six parallel sessions covering physical sciences, techniques, and life sciences. The large conference also attracted a wide range of exhibitors, and this is essential for the ongoing success of all of our work, in a field that is very dependent on continued technical innovation and on collaborations between academic researchers and commercial developers of microscopes, holders, detectors, spectrometers, sample preparation equipment, and software, among other things. As has long been the case at EMAG, all oral and poster presenters were invited to submit papers for consideration for the proceedings. As ever, these papers were independently reviewed by other conference attendees, with the aim of continuing the long tradition of the EMAG proceedings being a top quality, peer-reviewed publication, worthy of reference in future years. Whilst I recognise that not all presenters were able to submit papers to the proceedings (for instance due to the need not to prejudice publication in some other journals, or due to avoiding duplicate publication of data), we are gratified that our presenters submitted as many papers as they did. The 41 papers included provide an interesting snapshot of many of the areas covered in the conference presentations, including functional materials, coatings, 3D microscopy, FIB and SEM, nanomaterials, magnetic and structural materials, advances in EM techniques

  12. Getting started on metrics - Jet Propulsion Laboratory productivity and quality

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bush, M. W.

    1990-01-01

    A review is presented to describe the effort and difficulties of reconstructing fifteen years of JPL software history. In 1987 the collection and analysis of project data were started with the objective of creating laboratory-wide measures of quality and productivity for software development. As a result of this two-year Software Product Assurance metrics study, a rough measurement foundation for software productivity and software quality, and an order-of-magnitude quantitative baseline for software systems and subsystems are now available.

  13. Summary of strategies for planning Productivity Improvement and Quality Enhancement (PIQE)

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1986-01-01

    The Summary of NASA Strategies for Productivity Improvement and Quality Enhancement respond to NASA's eighth top goal: Establish NASA as a leader in the development and application of advanced technology and management practices which contribute to significant increases in both Agency and national productivity. The Strategies provide the framework for development of the agency-wide Productivity Improvement and Quality Enhancement (PIQE) Plans.

  14. [Library and Information Services for Democracy, for Literacy, and for Productivity]. Conference Briefs.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bobinski, George, Ed.

    1990-01-01

    This issue is designed to provide delegates and other participants in the New York State Governor's Conference in 1990 and the White House Conference on Library and Information Services in July 1991 with an overview of the current status and future needs of libraries and librarianship in the state. Following a message from Mario Cuomo, Governor of…

  15. A quality-based cost model for new electronic systems and products

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Shina, Sammy G.; Saigal, Anil

    1998-04-01

    This article outlines a method for developing a quality-based cost model for the design of new electronic systems and products. The model incorporates a methodology for determining a cost-effective design margin allocation for electronic products and systems and its impact on manufacturing quality and cost. A spreadsheet-based cost estimating tool was developed to help implement this methodology in order for the system design engineers to quickly estimate the effect of design decisions and tradeoffs on the quality and cost of new products. The tool was developed with automatic spreadsheet connectivity to current process capability and with provisions to consider the impact of capital equipment and tooling purchases to reduce the product cost.

  16. The quality of sputum smear microscopy in public-private mix directly observed treatment laboratories in West Amhara region, Ethiopia.

    PubMed

    Manalebh, Almaw; Demissie, Meaza; Mekonnen, Daniel; Abera, Bayeh

    2015-01-01

    Ethiopia adopted Public-Private Mix Directly Observed Treatment Short Course Chemotherapy (PPM-DOTS) strategy for tuberculosis (TB) control program. Quality of sputum smear microscopy has paramount importance for tuberculosis control program in resource-poor countries like Ethiopia. A cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the quality of sputum smear microscopy in 37 Public-Private Mix laboratories in West Amhara, Ethiopia. The three external quality assessment methods (onsite evaluation, panel testing and blind rechecking) were employed. Onsite assessment revealed that 67.6% of PPM-DOTS laboratories were below the standard physical space (5 X 6) m2. The average monthly workload per laboratory technician was 19.5 (SD±2.9) slides with 12.8% positivity rate. The quality of Acid Fast Bacilli (AFB) staining reagents was sub-standard. The overall agreement for blind rechecking of 1,123 AFB slides was 99.4% (Kappa = 0.97). Reading of 370 AFB panel slides showed 3.5% false reading (Kappa = 0.92). Moreover, the consistency of reading scanty bacilli slides was lower (93%) compared to 1+, 2+ and 3+ bacilli. Based on blind rechecking and panel testing results, PPM-DOTS site laboratories showed good agreement with the reference laboratory. Physical space and qualities of AFB reagents would be areas of intervention to sustain the quality of sputum smear microscopy. Therefore, regular external quality assessment and provision of basic laboratory supplies for TB diagnosis would be the way forward to improve the quality of sputum smear microscopy services in PPM-DOTS laboratories.

  17. The Quality of Sputum Smear Microscopy in Public-Private Mix Directly Observed Treatment Laboratories in West Amhara Region, Ethiopia

    PubMed Central

    Manalebh, Almaw; Demissie, Meaza; Mekonnen, Daniel; Abera, Bayeh

    2015-01-01

    Ethiopia adopted Public-Private Mix Directly Observed Treatment Short Course Chemotherapy (PPM-DOTS) strategy for tuberculosis (TB) control program. Quality of sputum smear microscopy has paramount importance for tuberculosis control program in resource-poor countries like Ethiopia. A cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the quality of sputum smear microscopy in 37 Public-Private Mix laboratories in West Amhara, Ethiopia. The three external quality assessment methods (onsite evaluation, panel testing and blind rechecking) were employed. Onsite assessment revealed that 67.6% of PPM-DOTS laboratories were below the standard physical space (5 X 6) m2. The average monthly workload per laboratory technician was 19.5 (SD±2.9) slides with 12.8% positivity rate. The quality of Acid Fast Bacilli (AFB) staining reagents was sub-standard. The overall agreement for blind rechecking of 1,123 AFB slides was 99.4% (Kappa = 0.97). Reading of 370 AFB panel slides showed 3.5% false reading (Kappa = 0.92). Moreover, the consistency of reading scanty bacilli slides was lower (93%) compared to 1+, 2+ and 3+ bacilli. Based on blind rechecking and panel testing results, PPM-DOTS site laboratories showed good agreement with the reference laboratory. Physical space and qualities of AFB reagents would be areas of intervention to sustain the quality of sputum smear microscopy. Therefore, regular external quality assessment and provision of basic laboratory supplies for TB diagnosis would be the way forward to improve the quality of sputum smear microscopy services in PPM-DOTS laboratories. PMID:25849516

  18. A Quadrupole Dalton-based multi-attribute method for product characterization, process development, and quality control of therapeutic proteins.

    PubMed

    Xu, Weichen; Jimenez, Rod Brian; Mowery, Rachel; Luo, Haibin; Cao, Mingyan; Agarwal, Nitin; Ramos, Irina; Wang, Xiangyang; Wang, Jihong

    2017-10-01

    During manufacturing and storage process, therapeutic proteins are subject to various post-translational modifications (PTMs), such as isomerization, deamidation, oxidation, disulfide bond modifications and glycosylation. Certain PTMs may affect bioactivity, stability or pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics profile and are therefore classified as potential critical quality attributes (pCQAs). Identifying, monitoring and controlling these PTMs are usually key elements of the Quality by Design (QbD) approach. Traditionally, multiple analytical methods are utilized for these purposes, which is time consuming and costly. In recent years, multi-attribute monitoring methods have been developed in the biopharmaceutical industry. However, these methods combine high-end mass spectrometry with complicated data analysis software, which could pose difficulty when implementing in a quality control (QC) environment. Here we report a multi-attribute method (MAM) using a Quadrupole Dalton (QDa) mass detector to selectively monitor and quantitate PTMs in a therapeutic monoclonal antibody. The result output from the QDa-based MAM is straightforward and automatic. Evaluation results indicate this method provides comparable results to the traditional assays. To ensure future application in the QC environment, this method was qualified according to the International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) guideline and applied in the characterization of drug substance and stability samples. The QDa-based MAM is shown to be an extremely useful tool for product and process characterization studies that facilitates facile understanding of process impact on multiple quality attributes, while being QC friendly and cost-effective.

  19. Ninth Annual NASA/Contractors Conference on Quality and Productivity. World Class Excellence: The Journey Continues. Keynote presentations

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Templeton, Geoffrey B. (Editor)

    1992-01-01

    This coference provided an excellent forum for the members of the NASA community to share their experience and expertise in an effort to continuously improve the quality of the US space program. The topics covered include the following: NASA's approach to continual improvement; commitment to total quality; total quality at AlliedSignal Aerospace; organizational TQM; recognition of the 1992 Low Trophy Finalists; announcement of the 1992 Low Trophy Recipients; and the changing face of aerospace contracting.

  20. ISSUES THAT MUST BE ADDRESSED FOR RISK ASSESSMENT OF MIXED EXPOSURES: THE EPA EXPERIENCE WITH AIR QUALITY

    EPA Science Inventory

    Issues that Must be Addressed for Risk Assessment of Mixed Exposures: The EPA Experience with Air Quality

    Daniel L. Costa, Sc.D.

    Abstract
    Humans are routinely exposed to a complex mixture of air pollutants in both their outdoor and indoor environments. The wide...

  1. North Carolina Library Association 1997 Biennial Conference.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    North Carolina Libraries, 1997

    1997-01-01

    Provides summaries of the presentations at the North Carolina Library Association's Biennial Conference, "Choose Quality, Choose Libraries," (Raleigh, NC, October 8-10, 1997). Some of the topics covered include library instruction, Internet access to public documents, outsourcing technical services, copyrights and the Internet, the…

  2. Bioelectrochemical ethanol production through mediated acetate reduction by mixed cultures.

    PubMed

    Steinbusch, Kirsten J J; Hamelers, Hubertus V M; Schaap, Joris D; Kampman, Christel; Buisman, Cees J N

    2010-01-01

    Biological acetate reduction with hydrogen is a potential method to convert wet biomass waste into ethanol. Since the ethanol concentration and reaction rates are low, this research studies the feasibility of using an electrode, in stead of hydrogen, as an electron donor for biological acetate reduction in conjunction of an electron mediator. Initially, the effect of three selected mediators on metabolic flows during acetate reduction with hydrogen was explored; subsequently, the best performing mediator was used in a bioelectrochemical system to stimulate acetate reduction at the cathode with mixed cultures at an applied cathode potential of -550 mV. In the batch test, methyl viologen (MV) was found to accelerate ethanol production 6-fold and increased ethanol concentration 2-fold to 13.5 +/- 0.7 mM compared to the control. Additionally, MV inhibited n-butyrate and methane formation, resulting in high ethanol production efficiency (74.6 +/- 6%). In the bioelectrochemical system, MV addition to an inoculated cathode led directly to ethanol production (1.82 mM). Hydrogen was coproduced at the cathode (0.0035 Nm(3) hydrogen m(-2) d(-1)), so it remained unclear whether acetate was reduced to ethanol by electrons supplied by the mediator or by hydrogen. As MV reacted irreversibly at the cathode, ethanol production stopped after 5 days.

  3. Innovative Use of Quality Management Methods for Product Improvement

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Midor, Katarzyna; Žarnovský, Jozef

    2016-12-01

    Organisations constantly look for new, innovative solutions and methods which could be used to improve their efficiency and increase the quality of their products. Identifying the causes for returns is an important issue for modern companies, as returns are the cause for the increase in production costs and, most importantly, the loss of credibility in the eyes of the client. Therefore, for the company to be able to sustain or strengthen its position on the market, it has to follow the rules of quality management. Especially important is the rule of constant improvement. This rule is primarily connected with preventing errors and defects from occurring at all the stages of the production process. To achieve that, one must, among other things, use quality management tools. The article presents an analysis of causes for returns of a vibrating screen produced by a company which manufactures machinery and equipment for the extractive industry, using quality management tools such as the Ishikawa diagram and Pareto analysis. The analysis allowed for the identification of the causes of client returns which could not be previously identified, and proposing solutions for them.

  4. PREFACE: The International Conference on Science of Friction

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Miura, Kouji; Matsukawa, Hiroshi

    2007-07-01

    The first international conference on the science of friction in Japan was held at Irago, Aichi on 9-13 September 2007. The conference focused on the elementary process of friction phenomena from the atomic and molecular scale view. Topics covered in the conference are shown below.:

  5. Superlubricity and friction
  6. Electronic and phononic contributions to friction
  7. Friction on the atomic and molecular scales
  8. van der Waals friction and Casimir force
  9. Molecular motor and friction
  10. Friction and adhesion in soft matter systems
  11. Wear and crack on the nanoscale
  12. Theoretical studies on the atomic scale friction and energy dissipation
  13. Friction and chaos
  14. Mechanical properties of nanoscale contacts
  15. Friction of powder
    16. The number of participants in the conference was approximately 100, registered from 11 countries. 48 oral and 29 poster talks were presented at the conference. This volume of Journal of Physics: Conference Series includes 23 papers devoted to the above topics of friction. The successful organization of the conference was made possible by the contribution of the members of the Organizing Committee and International Advisory Committee. The conference was made possible thanks to the financial support from Aichi University of Education and the Taihokogyo Tribology Research Foundation (TTRF), and moreover thanks to the approval societies of The Physical Society of Japan, The Surface Science Society of Japan, The Japanese Society of Tribologists and Toyota Physical and Chemical Research Institute. The details of the conference are available at http://www.science-of-friction.com . Finally we want to thank the speakers for the high quality of their talks and all participants for coming to Irago, Japan and actively contributing to the conference. Kouji Miura and Hiroshi Matsukawa Editors

  16. History of NAMES Conferences

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Filippov, Lev

    2013-03-01

    Franco-Russian NAMES Seminars are held for the purpose of reviewing and discussing actual developments in the field of materials science by researchers from Russia and from the Lorraine Region of France. In more precise terms, as set down by the organizers of the seminar (the Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys and the Institut National Polytechnique de Lorraine), the mission of the seminars is as follows: the development of scientific and academic contacts, giving a new impulse to joint fundamental research and technology transfer the development and consolidation of scientific, technical and business collaboration between the regions of Russia and Lorraine through direct contact between the universities, institutes and companies involved The first Seminar took place on 27-29 October 2004, at the Institut National Polytechnique de Lorraine (on the premises of the Ecole Européenne d'Ingénieurs en Génie des Matériaux, Nancy, France). The number, variety and quality of the oral presentations given and posters exhibited at the first Seminar were of high international standard. 30 oral presentations were given and 72 posters were presented by 19 participants from five universities and three institutes of the Russian Academy of Sciences participants from 11 laboratories of three universities from the Lorraine region three industrial companies, including the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company—EADS, and ANVAR (Agence Nationale de Valorisation de la Recherche) From 2005 onwards, it was decided to organize the Seminar every other year. The second Seminar convened on the occasion of the 75th Anniversary of the Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys on 10-12 November 2005 in Moscow, Russia. The seminar demonstrated the efficiency of the scientific partnership founded between the research groups of Russia and France during the first Seminar. High productivity of the Franco-Russian scientific cooperation on the basis of the Research-Educational Franco

  17. Executive summary of the KDIGO Controversies Conference on Supportive Care in Chronic Kidney Disease: developing a roadmap to improving quality care.

    PubMed

    Davison, Sara N; Levin, Adeera; Moss, Alvin H; Jha, Vivekanand; Brown, Edwina A; Brennan, Frank; Murtagh, Fliss E M; Naicker, Saraladevi; Germain, Michael J; O'Donoghue, Donal J; Morton, Rachael L; Obrador, Gregorio T

    2015-09-01

    Patients with advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD) have a high burden of physical and psychosocial symptoms, poor outcomes, and high costs of care. Current paradigms of care for this highly vulnerable population are variable, prognostic and assessment tools are limited, and quality of care, particularly regarding conservative and palliative care, is suboptimal. The KDIGO Controversies Conference on Supportive Care in CKD reviewed the current state of knowledge in order to define a roadmap to guide clinical and research activities focused on improving the outcomes of people living with advanced CKD, including those on dialysis. An international group of multidisciplinary experts in CKD, palliative care, methodology, economics, and education identified the key issues related to palliative care in this population. The conference led to a working plan to address outstanding issues in this arena, and this executive summary serves as an output to guide future work, including the development of globally applicable guidelines.

  18. Quantifying Impact of Biofeedstock Production on Hydrology/Water Quality in Midwest USA

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chaubey, Indrajeet; Engel, Bernard; Thomas, Mark; Raj, Cibin; Saraswat, Dharmendra

    2010-05-01

    The production of biofeedstocks for biofuels is likely to impact the hydrology and water quality of watersheds. Communities potentially impacted are increasingly concerned, and at present, little is known regarding the magnitude of impacts of biofeedstock production on hydrology and water quality. We have initiated a national facilitation project to answer the following questions: What are the unintended environmental consequences of increased corn production to meet biofuel demands? What are the environmental impacts of various second generation biofeedstock production systems to meet cellulosic ethanol demands? Would the management of cropping systems involving corn silage meet cellulosic ethanol demands with minimal environmental impact? What are the broad-scale water quality implications of energy crops, such as switchgrass, grown for bioenergy production on highly erodible soils? This presentation will discuss development of multi-regional agricultural land management practices that can be implemented to mitigate potential negative environmental impacts associated with biofeedstock production while meeting the biofuel production demand. Specifically, we will discuss how watershed scale modeling can be utilized to evaluate the environmental impacts of various biofeedstock production strategies. We will also discuss regional differences in alternative biofeedstock production and associated hydrologic/water quality impacts.

  19. Mixed methods research in music therapy research.

    PubMed

    Bradt, Joke; Burns, Debra S; Creswell, John W

    2013-01-01

    Music therapists have an ethical and professional responsibility to provide the highest quality care possible to their patients. Much of the time, high quality care is guided by evidence-based practice standards that integrate the most current, available research in making decisions. Accordingly, music therapists need research that integrates multiple ways of knowing and forms of evidence. Mixed methods research holds great promise for facilitating such integration. At this time, there have not been any methodological articles published on mixed methods research in music therapy. The purpose of this article is to introduce mixed methods research as an approach to address research questions relevant to music therapy practice. This article describes the core characteristics of mixed methods research, considers paradigmatic issues related to this research approach, articulates major challenges in conducting mixed methods research, illustrates four basic designs, and provides criteria for evaluating the quality of mixed methods articles using examples of mixed methods research from the music therapy literature. Mixed methods research offers unique opportunities for strengthening the evidence base in music therapy. Recommendations are provided to ensure rigorous implementation of this research approach.

  20. Contract Incentives for Product Quality

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1980-06-01

    incurred by the contractor, i.e., cost reimbursement contracts. It differs also in that the product may only be definable in general terms, thus...government employees. There are other fiscal motivations as well since if government quality personnel do not accept their system, reimbursement will not... reimbursement contracts in the DAR, Paragraph 3-808.1 as follows: 3-808 Profit, Including Fees Under Cost- Reimbursement Type Contracts 3-808.1 Policy (a

  21. Image processing system performance prediction and product quality evaluation

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Stein, E. K.; Hammill, H. B. (Principal Investigator)

    1976-01-01

    The author has identified the following significant results. A new technique for image processing system performance prediction and product quality evaluation was developed. It was entirely objective, quantitative, and general, and should prove useful in system design and quality control. The technique and its application to determination of quality control procedures for the Earth Resources Technology Satellite NASA Data Processing Facility are described.

  22. First CLIPS Conference Proceedings, volume 2

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1990-01-01

    The topics of volume 2 of First CLIPS Conference are associated with following applications: quality control; intelligent data bases and networks; Space Station Freedom; Space Shuttle and satellite; user interface; artificial neural systems and fuzzy logic; parallel and distributed processing; enchancements to CLIPS; aerospace; simulation and defense; advisory systems and tutors; and intelligent control.

  23. Google Moon Press Conference

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2009-07-19

    Michael Weiss-Malik, Product Manager for Moon in Google Earth, Google, Inc., speaks during a press conference, Monday, July 20, 2009, announcing the launch of Moon in Google Earth, an immersive 3D atlas of the Moon, accessible within Google Earth 5.0, Monday, July 20, 2009, at the Newseum in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

  24. Recommendations for clinical practice and research in severe brain injury in intensive rehabilitation: the Italian Consensus Conference.

    PubMed

    De Tanti, A; Zampolini, M; Pregno, S

    2015-02-01

    The paper reports the final statements of the jury of a National Consensus Conference organized in November 2010 at Salsomaggiore (Parma) to draw up recommendations on the rehabilitation programs for acquired brain injury (sABI) patients in the intensive hospital phase. Because of the few clinical studies of good quality found by means of the literature research we choose a mixed approach: a systematic review of the published studies and a consensus conference in order to obtain recommendations that come from the clinical evidence and the expert opinion. The final recommendations of the jury, based on the best available evidence combined with clinical expertise and the experience of persons with disabilities and other stakeholders, cover 13 topics: 1) Management of paroxysmal manifestations (sympathetic storms); 2) management of neuroendocrine problems; 3) nutrition; 4) swallowing; 5) ventilation/respiration, 6) clinical and instrument diagnosis and prognosis of vegetative state (VS) and minimally conscious state (MCS), 7) rehabilitative and pharmacological facilitation of renewed contact with surroundings; 8) neurosurgical complications and hydrocephalus; 9) sensorimotor impairment and disability; 10) rehabilitation methods; 11) assessment and treatment of cognitive-behavioural impairment and disability; 12) methodology and organization of care; 13) involving family and caregivers in rehabilitation.

  25. Solar Seismology from Space. a Conference at Snowmass, Colorado

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Ulrich, R. K.; Harvey, J.; Rhodes, E. J., Jr.; Toomre, J.

    1984-01-01

    The quality of the ground based observing environment suffers from several degrading factors: diurnal interruptions and thermal variations, atmospheric seeing and transparency fluctuations and adverse weather interruptions are among the chief difficulties. The limited fraction of the solar surface observable from only one vantage point is also a potential limitation to the quality of the data available without going to space. Primary conference goals were to discuss in depth the scientific return from current observations and analyses of solar oscillations, to discuss the instrumental and site requirements for realizing the full potential of the seismic analysis method, and to help bring new workers into the field by collecting and summarizing the key background theory. At the conclusion of the conference there was a clear consensus that ground based observation would not be able to provide data of the quality required to permit a substantial analysis of the solar convection zone dynamics or to permit a full deduction of the solar interior structure.

  26. Study of the Technical Feasibility of Increasing the Amount of Recycled Concrete Waste Used in Ready-Mix Concrete Production

    PubMed Central

    Ferreiro-Cabello, Javier; López-González, Luis M.

    2017-01-01

    The construction industry generates a considerable amount of waste. Faced with this undesirable situation, the ready-mix concrete sector, in particular, has invested energy and resources into reusing its own waste in its production process as it works towards the goal of more sustainable construction. This study examines the feasibility of incorporating two types of concrete waste, which currently end up in landfill, into the production process of ready-mix concrete: the waste generated during the initial production stage (ready-mix concrete waste), and waste created when demolition waste is treated to obtain artificial aggregate. The first phase of the study’s methodology corroborates the suitability of the recycled aggregate through characterization tests. After this phase, the impact of incorporating different percentages of recycled coarse aggregate is evaluated by examining the performance of the produced concrete. The replacement rate varied between 15% and 50%. The results indicate that recycled aggregates are, indeed, suitable to be incorporated into ready-mix concrete production. The impact on the final product’s performance is different for the two cases examined herein. Incorporating aggregates from generic concrete blocks led to a 20% decrease in the produced concrete’s strength performance. On the other hand, using recycled aggregates made from the demolition waste led to a smaller decrease in the concrete’s performance: about 8%. The results indicate that with adequate management and prior treatment, the waste from these plants can be re-incorporated into their production processes. If concrete waste is re-used, concrete production, in general, becomes more sustainable for two reasons: less waste ends up as landfill and the consumption of natural aggregates is also reduced. PMID:28773183

  27. Cornell Mixing Zone Expert System

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page provides an overview Cornell Mixing Zone Expert System water quality modeling and decision support system designed for environmental impact assessment of mixing zones resulting from wastewater discharge from point sources

  28. Stocker performance and production in mixed tall fescue-bermudagrass pastures of the Southern Piedmont USA

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Stocker performance and production from mixed cool- and warm-season perennial pastures are important determinants of agricultural sustainability that can be influenced by management. We evaluated the factorial combination of three sources of nutrient application (inorganic only, organic + inorganic...

  29. Quality First in Education... Why Not? Using Quality and Productivity Methods To Improve Schools.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Spanbauer, Stanley J.; Hillman, Jo Ann

    A description is provided of the implementation at Fox Valley Technical College (FVTC), Wisconsin, of the Quality First Process Model, which was adapted from a model commonly used in manufacturing and service industries. The model uses private sector quality and productivity procedures and new management styles to serve students more effectively,…

  30. Application of fuzzy set theory for integral assessment of agricultural products quality

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Derkanosova, N. M.; Ponomareva, I. N.; Shurshikova, G. V.; Vasilenko, O. A.

    2018-05-01

    The methodology of integrated assessment of quality and safety of agricultural products, approbated by the example of indicators of wheat grain in relation to the provision of consumer properties of bakery products, was developed. Determination of the level of quality of the raw ingredients will allow direct using of agricultural raw materials for food production, taking into account ongoing technology, types of products, and, respectively, rational use of resource potential of the agricultural sector. The mathematical tool of the proposed method is a fuzzy set theory. The fuzzy classifier to evaluate the properties of the grain is formed. The set of six indicators normalized by the national standard is determined; values are ordered and represented by linguistic variables with a trapeziform membership function; the rules for calculation of membership functions are presented. Specific criteria values for individual indicators in shaping the quality of the finished products are considered. For one of the samples of wheat grain values of membership; functions of the linguistic variable "level" for all indicators and the linguistic variable "level of quality" were calculated. It is established that the studied sample of grain obtains the 2 (average) level of quality. Accordingly, it can be recommended for the production of bakery products with higher requirements for the structural-mechanical properties bakery and puff pastry products hearth bread and flour confectionery products of the group of hard dough cookies and crackers

  31. Modernized Techniques for Dealing with Quality Data and Derived Products

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Neiswender, C.; Miller, S. P.; Clark, D.

    2008-12-01

    "I just want a picture of the ocean floor in this area" is expressed all too often by researchers, educators, and students in the marine geosciences. As more sophisticated systems are developed to handle data collection and processing, the demand for quality data, and standardized products continues to grow. Data management is an invisible bridge between science and researchers/educators. The SIOExplorer digital library presents more than 50 years of ocean-going research. Prior to publication, all data is checked for quality using standardized criterion developed for each data stream. Despite the evolution of data formats and processing systems, SIOExplorer continues to present derived products in well- established formats. Standardized products are published for each cruise, and include a cruise report, MGD77 merged data, multi-beam flipbook, and underway profiles. Creation of these products is made possible by processing scripts, which continue to change with ever-evolving data formats. We continue to explore the potential of database-enabled creation of standardized products, such as the metadata-rich MGD77 header file. Database-enabled, automated processing produces standards-compliant metadata for each data and derived product. Metadata facilitates discovery and interpretation of published products. This descriptive information is stored both in an ASCII file, and a searchable digital library database. SIOExplorer's underlying technology allows focused search and retrieval of data and products. For example, users can initiate a search of only multi-beam data, which includes data-specific parameters. This customization is made possible with a synthesis of database, XML, and PHP technology. The combination of standardized products and digital library technology puts quality data and derived products in the hands of scientists. Interoperable systems enable distribution these published resources using technology such as web services. By developing modernized

  1. 4th International Plant Biomechanics Conference Proceedings (Abstracts)

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Frank W. Telewski; Lothar H. Koehler; Frank W. Ewers

    2003-07-20

    The 4th International Plant Biomechanics Conference facilitated an interdisciplinary exchange between scientists, engineers, and educators addressing the major questions encountered in the field of Plant Biomechanics. Subjects covered by the conference include: Evolution; Ecology; Mechanoreception; Cell Walls; Genetic Modification; Applied Biomechanics of Whole Plants, Plant Products, Fibers & Composites; Fluid Dynamics; Wood & Trees; Fracture Mechanics; Xylem Pressure & Water Transport; Modeling; and Introducing Plant Biomechanics in Secondary School Education.

  2. The influence of calcium supplementation on immobilised mixed microflora for biohydrogen production

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lutpi, Nabilah Aminah; Shian, Wong Yee; Izhar, Tengku Nuraiti Tengku; Zainol, Noor Ainee; Kiong, Yiek Wee

    2017-04-01

    This study is aim to study the effect of calcium as supplement in attached growth system towards the enhancement of the hydrogen production performance. The effects of calcium ion for thermophilic biohydrogen production were studied by using a mixed culture, from palm oil mill effluent sludge and granular activated carbon (GAC) as the support material. Batch experiments were carried out at 60°C by feeding the anaerobic sludge bacteria with sucrose-containing synthetic medium at an initial pH of 5.5 under anaerobic conditions. The repeated batch cultivation process was conducted by adding different concentration of calcium at range 0.025g/L to 0.15g/L. The results showed that the calcium at 0.1 g/L was the optimal concentration to enhance the fermentative hydrogen production under thermophilic (60°C) conditions.

  3. Using Mixed Methods to Assess Initiatives with Broad-Based Goals

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Inkelas, Karen Kurotsuchi

    2017-01-01

    This chapter describes a process for assessing programmatic initiatives with broad-ranging goals with the use of a mixed-methods design. Using an example of a day-long teaching development conference, this chapter provides practitioners step-by-step guidance on how to implement this assessment process.

  4. Morbidity and Mortality Conference: Its Purpose Reclaimed and Grounded in Theory.

    PubMed

    Gregor, Alexander; Taylor, David

    2016-01-01

    The morbidity and mortality conference (MMC) remains a central activity within the departments of our academic healthcare institutions. It is deeply rooted in the premise that we can learn from our mistakes, thereby improving the care we provide. Recent advances in our understanding of medical error and quality improvement have challenged the value of traditional models of MMC. As a result the purpose of MMC has become clouded and ill-defined: Is it an educational conference that promotes mastery of clinical acumen, or is it a venue to drive quality improvement by addressing systems-based issues in delivering care? Or can it serve both purposes? Review of the history of MMC, the literature, and critical application of education theory demonstrates the source of the confusion and the challenges in viewing it through the exclusive lens of either education or quality improvement. Application of experiential learning theory helps resolve this discord showing how the conference facilitates the development of clinical mastery while informing quality improvement programs about important and relevant systems-based issues. Building on this, we present a model for MMC involving five essential elements: case-based involving an adverse patient event, anonymity for participants, expert guided critical analysis, reframing understanding of the case presentation and related systems-based factors, and projection to practice change. This model builds on previously described models, is grounded in the literature, and helps clarify its role from both the educational and the quality improvement perspectives.

  5. Proceedings of the North Carolina Conference on Children (Raleigh, North Carolina, March 29 - March 30, 1976)

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    1976

    This document contains the conference papers of the North Carolina Conference on Children sponsored by the North Carolina Medical Society and officials of the state government. The purpose of the conference was to discuss inadequacies in the quality of life of children and to suggest possible solutions to the problems which prevent children from…

  6. Educating the Adult Educator: Quality Provision and Assessment in Europe. ESREA|ReNAdET e-Book Conference Proceedings (1st, Thessaloniki, Greece, November 6-8, 2009)

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Papastamatis, Adamantios, Ed; Valkanos, Efthymios, Ed.; Zarifis, Georgios K., Ed.; Panitsidou, Eugenia, Ed.

    2009-01-01

    This e-book contains the proceedings of the inaugural meeting of the ESREA Network on Adult Educators, Trainers and their Professional Development (ReNAdET): Educating the adult educator - Quality provision and assessment in Europe. The network's first conference meeting was held in Thessaloniki, Greece (6-8 November 2009) at the University of…

  7. Evaluation of a metering, mixing, and dispensing system for mixing polysulfide adhesive

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Evans, Kurt B.

    1989-01-01

    Tests were performed to evaluate whether a metered mixing system can mix PR-1221 polysulfide adhesive as well as or better than batch-mixed adhesive; also, to evaluate the quality of meter-mixed PR-1860 and PS-875 polysulfide adhesives. These adhesives are candidate replacements for PR-1221 which will not be manufactured in the future. The following material properties were evaluated: peel strength, specific gravity and adhesive components of mixed adhesives, Shore A hardness, tensile adhesion strength, and flow rate. Finally, a visual test called the butterfly test was performed to observe for bubbles and unmixed adhesive. The results of these tests are reported and discussed.

  8. Promotion of Critical Thinking in Clinical Nursing Post Conferences: A Peer Interactive Approach

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Stevens, Joanne

    2009-01-01

    Several workshops presented at the 2005 Lilly Conference on College Teaching in Oxford, Ohio, provided the inspiration for redesigning the clinical post conference for a foundational nursing course. Given the complexity and acuity of patient conditions today, fostering critical thinking in student nurses is central to quality patient care. The…

  9. Blood-gas analyzer calibration and quality control using a precision gas-mixing instrument.

    PubMed

    Wallace, W D; Clark, J S; Cutler, C A

    1981-08-01

    We describe a new instrument that performs on-site mixing of oxygen (O2), carbon dioxide (CO2), and nitrogen (N2) to create compositions that can replace gases from standard premixed cylinders. This instrument yields accurate and predictable gas mixtures that can be used for two-point gas calibration of blood gas/pH analyzers or for liquid tonometry of either an aqueous buffer or blood used as quality-control material on blood-gas electrodes. The desired mixture of O2, CO2, and N2 is produced by microprocessor control of the sequential open-times on three solenoid valves that meter these pure gases through a common small-bore orifice. Any combination of O2 and CO2 can be chosen by dialing the front panel thumbwheels and pressing a button. Gas chromatographic evaluation of this gas-mixing instrument demonstrates its accuracy and precision to be better than +/- 0.1% absolute full scale for O2, CO2, and N2, making this instrument calibration and tonometry.

  10. Characterization of Adipose Tissue Product Quality Using Measurements of Oxygen Consumption Rate.

    PubMed

    Suszynski, Thomas M; Sieber, David A; Mueller, Kathryn; Van Beek, Allen L; Cunningham, Bruce L; Kenkel, Jeffrey M

    2018-03-14

    Fat grafting is a common procedure in plastic surgery but associated with unpredictable graft retention. Adipose tissue (AT) "product" quality is affected by the methods used for harvest, processing and transfer, which vary widely amongst surgeons. Currently, there is no method available to accurately assess the quality of AT. In this study, we present a novel method for the assessment of AT product quality through direct measurements of oxygen consumption rate (OCR). OCR has exhibited potential in predicting outcomes following pancreatic islet transplant. Our study aim was to reapportion existing technology for its use with AT preparations and to confirm that these measurements are feasible. OCR was successfully measured for en bloc and postprocessed AT using a stirred microchamber system. OCR was then normalized to DNA content (OCR/DNA), which represents the AT product quality. Mean (±SE) OCR/DNA values for fresh en bloc and post-processed AT were 149.8 (± 9.1) and 61.1 (± 6.1) nmol/min/mg DNA, respectively. These preliminary data suggest that: (1) OCR and OCR/DNA measurements of AT harvested using conventional protocol are feasible; and (2) standard AT processing results in a decrease in overall AT product quality. OCR measurements of AT using existing technology can be done and enables accurate, real-time, quantitative assessment of the quality of AT product prior to transfer. The availability and further validation of this type of assay could enable optimization of fat grafting protocol by providing a tool for the more detailed study of procedural variables that affect AT product quality.

  11. Stability evaluation of quality parameters for palm oil products at low temperature storage.

    PubMed

    Ramli, Nur Aainaa Syahirah; Mohd Noor, Mohd Azmil; Musa, Hajar; Ghazali, Razmah

    2018-07-01

    Palm oil is one of the major oils and fats produced and traded worldwide. The value of palm oil products is mainly influenced by their quality. According to ISO 17025:2005, accredited laboratories require a quality control procedure with respect to monitoring the validity of tests for determination of quality parameters. This includes the regular use of internal quality control using secondary reference materials. Unfortunately, palm oil reference materials are not currently available. To establish internal quality control samples, the stability of quality parameters needs to be evaluated. In the present study, the stability of quality parameters for palm oil products was examined over 10 months at low temperature storage (6 ± 2 °C). The palm oil products tested included crude palm oil (CPO); refined, bleached and deodorized (RBD) palm oil (RBDPO); RBD palm olein (RBDPOo); and RBD palm stearin (RBDPS). The quality parameters of the oils [i.e. moisture content, free fatty acid content (FFA), iodine value (IV), fatty acids composition (FAC) and slip melting point (SMP)] were determined prior to and throughout the storage period. The moisture, FFA, IV, FAC and SMP for palm oil products changed significantly (P < 0.05), whereas the moisture content for CPO, IV for RBDPO and RBDPOo, stearic acid composition for CPO and linolenic acid composition for CPO, RBDPO, RBDPOo and RBDPS did not (P > 0.05). The stability study indicated that the quality of the palm oil products was stable within the specified limits throughout the storage period at low temperature. The storage conditions preserved the quality of palm oil products throughout the storage period. These findings qualify the use of the palm oil products CPO, RBDPO, RBDPOo and RBDPS as control samples in the validation of test results. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

  12. Proceedings of the Seventh Applied Diamond Conference/Third Frontier Carbon Technology Joint Conference (ADC/FCT 2003)

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Murakawa, M. (Editor); Miyoshi, K. (Editor); Koga, Y. (Editor); Schaefer, L. (Editor); Tzeng, Y. (Editor)

    2003-01-01

    These are the Proceedings of the Seventh Applied Diamond Conference/Third Frontier Carbon Technology Joint Conference held at Epochal Tsukuba International Conference Center from August 18 to 21, 2003. The diamond CVD process was first reported by Dr. Spitsyn in 1981 and Prof. S. Iijima reported his discovery of carbon nanotubes in 1991. In the past years, both diamond-related materials and novel carbon materials have attracted considerable interest by the scientific, technological, and industrial community. Many practical and commercial products of diamond materials are reported in these proceedings. A broad variety of applications of carbon nanotubes and novel carbons have also been explored and demonstrated. Having more than 175 invited and contributing papers by authors from over 18 countries for presentations at ADC/FCT 2003 clearly demonstrates that these materials, due to the combination of their superior properties, are both scientifically amazing and economically significant.

  13. 27 CFR 31.204 - Mixed cocktails.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-04-01

    ... 27 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms 1 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Mixed cocktails. 31.204 Section 31.204 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms ALCOHOL AND TOBACCO TAX AND TRADE BUREAU, DEPARTMENT... Mixed cocktails. A retail liquor dealer who mixes cocktails or compounds any alcoholic liquors in...

  14. 27 CFR 31.204 - Mixed cocktails.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-04-01

    ... 27 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms 1 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Mixed cocktails. 31.204 Section 31.204 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms ALCOHOL AND TOBACCO TAX AND TRADE BUREAU, DEPARTMENT... Mixed cocktails. A retail liquor dealer who mixes cocktails or compounds any alcoholic liquors in...

  15. 27 CFR 31.204 - Mixed cocktails.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-04-01

    ... 27 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms 1 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Mixed cocktails. 31.204 Section 31.204 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms ALCOHOL AND TOBACCO TAX AND TRADE BUREAU, DEPARTMENT... Mixed cocktails. A retail liquor dealer who mixes cocktails or compounds any alcoholic liquors in...

  16. 27 CFR 31.204 - Mixed cocktails.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-04-01

    ... 27 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms 1 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Mixed cocktails. 31.204 Section 31.204 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms ALCOHOL AND TOBACCO TAX AND TRADE BUREAU, DEPARTMENT... Mixed cocktails. A retail liquor dealer who mixes cocktails or compounds any alcoholic liquors in...

  17. 27 CFR 31.204 - Mixed cocktails.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-04-01

    ... 27 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Mixed cocktails. 31.204 Section 31.204 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms ALCOHOL AND TOBACCO TAX AND TRADE BUREAU, DEPARTMENT... Mixed cocktails. A retail liquor dealer who mixes cocktails or compounds any alcoholic liquors in...

  18. Final Report: Investigations of Mixed-Phase Cloud Microphysical, Radiative, and Dynamical Processes

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Shupe, Matthew

    2016-08-18

    This project supported the principle investigator’s work on a number of studies regarding mixed-phase clouds and in various related collaborations with ARM and related scientists. This project has contributed to numerous publications and conference/meeting presentations.

  19. Research progress on the effect of microwave sterilization on agricultural products quality

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhu, Xiang-hao; Yang, Yu-xia; Duan, Zhen-hua

    2018-02-01

    Different sterilization methods have different effects on the quality of agricultural products, microwave sterilization inhibited or eliminated microorganism by the use of microwave thermal effects and non-thermal. In this paper, the effects of microwave sterilization on the quality of fruits and vegetables, dairy, meat, grain, aquatic products and other agricultural products were introduced, and the possible development trends of microwave sterilization in agricultural products processing application were put forward.

  20. Quality, Social Justice and Accountability in Education Worldwide. BCES Conference Books, Volume 13, Number 2

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chigisheva, Oksana, Ed.; Popov, Nikolay, Ed.

    2015-01-01

    This proceedings is divided into two parts. Volume 13, Number 1 contains papers presented at the thirteenth annual international conference of the Bulgarian Comparative Education Society (BCES) held in Sofia, Bulgaria June 10-13, 2015. Volume 13, Number 2 contains papers presented at the third International Partner Conference, organised by the…

  1. Evaluation of the degree of mixing of combinations of dry syrup, powder, and fine granule products in consideration of particle size distribution using near infrared spectrometry.

    PubMed

    Yamamoto, Yoshihisa; Suzuki, Toyofumi; Matsumoto, Mika; Ohtani, Michiteru; Hayano, Shuichi; Fukami, Toshiro; Tomono, Kazuo

    2012-01-01

    We used near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy to evaluate the degree of mixing of blended dry syrup (DS) products whose particle sizes are not specified in the Revised 16th Edition of the Japanese Pharmacopoeia, and also evaluated the degree of mixing when powder products or fine granule products were added to DS products. The data obtained were used to investigate the relationship between the particle size distributions of the products studied and the degree of mixing. We found that the particle size distribution characteristics of the 15 DS products studied can be broadly classified into 5 types. Combinations of frequently prescribed products were selected to represent 4 of the 5 particle size distribution types and were blended with a mortar and pestle. The coefficient of variation (CV) decreased as the percent mass of Asverin® Dry Syrup 2% (Asverin-DS) increased in blends of Periactin® Powder 1% (Periactin) and Asverin-DS, indicating an improved degree of mixing (uniformity). In contrast, in blends of Periactin and Mucodyne® DS 33.3%, mixing a combination at a 1:1 mass ratio 40 times resulted in a CV of 20%. Other mixing frequencies and mass ratios resulted in a CV by 50% to 70%, indicating a very poor degree of mixing (poor uniformity). These results suggest that when combining different DSs, or a DS with a powder or fine granule product, the blending obtained with a mortar and pestle improves as the particle size distributions of the components approach each other and as the ranges of the distributions narrow.

  2. [Online-conference using JGN.].

    PubMed

    Nakayama, Kazuya; Kojima, Kazuhiko; Suzuki, Masayuki; Kikuchi, Yuzo; Iwahara, Masayoshi; Matsui, Osamu; Noguchi, Masato

    2004-01-01

    Telemedicine and online conference systems have some benefits so that equalizing medical level, improving efficiency of medical care and improving service for patients. It is possible to give advice and to support its medical projects stationed in other facility and to provide the same quality treatments for patients. In this paper, we set up an experimental network system to teleconference using JGN (Japan Gigabit Network) and tried to discussion alternatively for case study between Kanazawa university and Fukui red cross hospital, 70 km away. The JGN used in this study is an ultra-high-speed network for the purpose of research and development. Kanazawa university, and Fukui red cross hospital are connected by a 10 Mbps communication link of the JGN. We tried online conference on the experimental network using video chat system. In result, using video chat system, the average transmission rate of MRI images (256 X 256pixel, 16bit) is 0.2 s/frame.

  3. Metabolic Engineering VII Conference

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Kevin Korpics

    The aims of this Metabolic Engineering conference are to provide a forum for academic and industrial researchers in the field; to bring together the different scientific disciplines that contribute to the design, analysis and optimization of metabolic pathways; and to explore the role of Metabolic Engineering in the areas of health and sustainability. Presentations, both written and oral, panel discussions, and workshops will focus on both applications and techniques used for pathway engineering. Various applications including bioenergy, industrial chemicals and materials, drug targets, health, agriculture, and nutrition will be discussed. Workshops focused on technology development for mathematical and experimental techniquesmore » important for metabolic engineering applications will be held for more in depth discussion. This 2008 meeting will celebrate our conference tradition of high quality and relevance to both industrial and academic participants, with topics ranging from the frontiers of fundamental science to the practical aspects of metabolic engineering.« less

  4. Counterintuitive effect of fall mixed layer deepening on eukaryotic new production in the Sargasso Sea

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fawcett, S. E.; Lomas, M. W.; Ward, B. B.; Sigman, D. M.

    2012-12-01

    The Sargasso Sea is characterized by a short period of deep vertical mixing in the late winter and early spring, followed by strong thermal stratification during the summer. Stratification persists into the fall, impeding the upward flux of nitrate from depth so that recycled forms of nitrogen (N) such as ammonium are thought to support most primary production. We collected particles from surface waters during March, July, October, and December, used flow cytometry to separate the prokaryotic and eukaryotic phytoplankton, and analyzed their respective 15N/14N. In all months, the 15N/14N of the prokaryotic genera, Prochlorococcus and Synechococcus, was low, indicative of reliance on recycled N throughout the year. In July, the 15N/14N of eukaryotic phytoplankton was variable but consistently higher than that of the prokaryotes, reflecting eukaryotic consumption of subsurface nitrate. Two eukaryotic profiles from October and December were similar to those from July. In three other fall profiles, the eukaryotes had a 15N/14N similar to that of the prokaryotes, suggesting a switch toward greater reliance on recycled N. This change in the dominant N source supporting eukaryotic production appears to be driven by the density structure of the upper water column. The very shallow low-density surface "mixed layer" (≤20 m) that develops in early-to-mid summer does not contribute to stratification at the base of the euphotic zone, and subsurface nitrate can mix up into the lower euphotic zone, facilitating continued production. The deepening of the mixed layer into the fall, typically taken as an indication of weaker overall stratification, actually strengthens the isolation of the euphotic zone as a whole, reducing the upward supply of nitrate to the photosynthetically active layer. The same counterintuitive dynamic explains the latitudinal patterns in a set of three October depth profiles. Two northern stations (32°N and 27°N) were characterized by a thick, low

  5. Design of agricultural product quality safety retrospective supervision system of Jiangsu province

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, Kun

    2017-08-01

    In store and supermarkets to consumers can trace back agricultural products through the electronic province card to query their origin, planting, processing, packaging, testing and other important information and found that the problems. Quality and safety issues can identify the responsibility of the problem. This paper designs a retroactive supervision system for the quality and safety of agricultural products in Jiangsu Province. Based on the analysis of agricultural production and business process, the goal of Jiangsu agricultural product quality safety traceability system construction is established, and the specific functional requirements and non-functioning requirements of the retroactive system are analyzed, and the target is specified for the specific construction of the retroactive system. The design of the quality and safety traceability system in Jiangsu province contains the design of the overall design, the trace code design and the system function module.

  6. Glycoengineering of CHO Cells to Improve Product Quality.

    PubMed

    Wang, Qiong; Yin, Bojiao; Chung, Cheng-Yu; Betenbaugh, Michael J

    2017-01-01

    Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells represent the predominant platform in biopharmaceutical industry for the production of recombinant biotherapeutic proteins, especially glycoproteins. These glycoproteins include oligosaccharide or glycan attachments that represent one of the principal components dictating product quality. Especially important are the N-glycan attachments present on many recombinant glycoproteins of commercial interest. Furthermore, altering the glycan composition can be used to modulate the production quality of a recombinant biotherapeutic from CHO and other mammalian hosts. This review first describes the glycosylation network in mammalian cells and compares the glycosylation patterns between CHO and human cells. Next genetic strategies used in CHO cells to modulate the sialylation patterns through overexpression of sialyltransfereases and other glycosyltransferases are summarized. In addition, other approaches to alter sialylation including manipulation of sialic acid biosynthetic pathways and inhibition of sialidases are described. Finally, this review also covers other strategies such as the glycosylation site insertion and manipulation of glycan heterogeneity to produce desired glycoforms for diverse biotechnology applications.

  7. Effect of production phase on bottle-fermented sparkling wine quality.

    PubMed

    Kemp, Belinda; Alexandre, Hervé; Robillard, Bertrand; Marchal, Richard

    2015-01-14

    This review analyzes bottle-fermented sparkling wine research at each stage of production by evaluating existing knowledge to identify areas that require future investigation. With the growing importance of enological investigation being focused on the needs of the wine production industry, this review examines current research at each stage of bottle-fermented sparkling wine production. Production phases analyzed in this review include pressing, juice adjustments, malolactic fermentation (MLF), stabilization, clarification, tirage, lees aging, disgorging, and dosage. The aim of this review is to identify enological factors that affect bottle-fermented sparkling wine quality, predominantly aroma, flavor, and foaming quality. Future research topics identified include regional specific varieties, plant-based products from vines, grapes, and yeast that can be used in sparkling wine production, gushing at disgorging, and methods to increase the rate of yeast autolysis. An internationally accepted sensory analysis method specifically designed for sparkling wine is required.

  8. Discovery '84: Technology for Disabled Persons. Conference Papers (Chicago, Illinois, October 1-3, 1984).

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Smith, Christopher, Ed.

    Thirty-nine papers from the conference "Discovery '84: Technology for Disabled Persons" are presented. The conference was intended to provide an overview of the areas in which technological advances have been made, including the applications of computers and other related products and services. Conference presenters represented fields of…

  9. The relationships between microbiological attributes and soil and litter quality in pure and mixed stands of native tree species in southeastern Bahia, Brazil.

    PubMed

    Gama-Rodrigues, Emanuela F; Gama-Rodrigues, Antonio Carlos; Barros, Nairam F; Moço, Maria Kellen S

    2011-11-01

    This study was conducted to link soil and litter microbial biomass and activity with soil and litter quality in the surface layer for different pure and mixed stands of native tree species in southeastern Bahia, Brazil. The purpose of the study was to see how strongly the differences among species and stands affect the microbiological attributes of the soil and to identify how microbial processes can be influenced by soil and litter quality. Soil and litter samples were collected from six pure and mixed stands of six hardwood species (Peltogyne angustifolia, Centrolobium robustum, Arapatiella psilophylla, Sclerolobium chrysophyllum, Cordia trichotoma, Macrolobium latifolium) native to the southeastern region of Bahia, Brazil. In plantations of native tree species in humid tropical regions, the immobilization efficiency of C and N by soil microbial biomass was strongly related to the chemical quality of the litter and to the organic matter quality of the soil. According to the variables analyzed, the mixed stand was similar to the natural forest and dissimilar to the pure stands. Litter microbial biomass represented a greater sink of C and N than soil microbial biomass and is an important contributor of resources to tropical soils having low C and N availability.

  10. Report of the 4th World Climate Research Programme International Conference on Reanalyses

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bosilovich, Michael G.; Rixen, Michel; van Oevelen, Peter; Asrar, Ghassem; Compo, Gilbert; Onogi, Kazutoshi; Simmons, Adrian; Trenberth, Kevin; Behringer, Dave; Bhuiyan, Tanvir Hossain; hide

    2012-01-01

    The 4th WCRP International Conference on Reanalyses provided an opportunity for the international community to review and discuss the observational and modelling research, as well as process studies and uncertainties associated with reanalysis of the Earth System and its components. Characterizing the uncertainty and quality of reanalyses is a task that reaches far beyond the international community of producers, and into the interdisciplinary research community, especially those using reanalysis products in their research and applications. Reanalyses have progressed greatly even in the last 5 years, and newer ideas, projects and data are coming forward. While reanalysis has typically been carried out for the individual domains of atmosphere, ocean and land, it is now moving towards coupling using Earth system models. Observations are being reprocessed and they are providing improved quality for use in reanalysis. New applications are being investigated, and the need for climate reanalyses is as strong as ever. At the heart of it all, new investigators are exploring the possibilities for reanalysis, and developing new ideas in research and applications. Given the many centres creating reanalyses products (e.g. ocean, land and cryosphere research centres as well as NWP and atmospheric centers), and the development of new ideas (e.g. families of reanalyses), the total number of reanalyses is increasing greatly, with new and innovative diagnostics and output data. The need for reanalysis data is growing steadily, and likewise, the need for open discussion and comment on the data. The 4th Conference was convened to provide a forum for constructive discussion on the objectives, strengths and weaknesses of reanalyses, indicating potential development paths for the future.

  11. Mixed-mode sorption of hydroxylated atrazine degradation products to sell: A mechanism for bound residue

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Lerch, R.N.; Thurman, E.M.; Kruger, E.L.

    1997-01-01

    This study tested the hypothesis that sorption of hydroxylated atrazine degradation products (HADPs: hydroxyatrazine, HA; deethylhydroxyatrazine, DEHA; and deisopropylhydroxyatrazine, DIHA) to soils occurs by mixed-mode binding resulting from two simultaneous mechanisms: (1) cation exchange and (2) hydrophobic interaction. The objective was to use liquid chromatography and soil extraction experiments to show that mixed-mode binding is the mechanism controlling HADP sorption to soils and is also a mechanism for bound residue. Overall, HADP binding to solid-phase extraction (SPE) sorbents occurred in the order: cation exchange >> octadecyl (C18) >> cyanopropyl. Binding to cation exchange SPE and to a high-performance liquid chromatograph octyl (C8) column showed evidence for mixed-mode binding. Comparison of soil extracted by 0.5 M KH2P04, pH 7.5, or 25% aqueous CH3CN showed that, for HA and DIHA, cation exchange was a more important binding mechanism to soils than hydrophobic interaction. Based on differences between several extractants, the extent of HADP mixed-mode binding to soil occurred in the following order: HA > DIHA > DEHA. Mixed-mode extraction recovered 42.8% of bound atrazine residues from aged soil, and 88% of this fraction was identified as HADPs. Thus, a significant portion of bound atrazine residues in soils is sorbed by the mixed-mode binding mechanisms.

  12. Flexible optical metrology strategies for the control and quality assurance of small series production

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Schmitt, R.; Pavim, A.

    2009-06-01

    The demand for achieving smaller and more flexible production series with a considerable diversity of products complicates the control of the manufacturing tasks, leading to big challenges for the quality assurance systems. The quality assurance strategy that is nowadays used for mass production is unable to cope with the inspection flexibility needed among automated small series production, because the measuring strategy is totally dependent on the fixed features of the few manufactured object variants and on process parameters that can be controlled/compensated during production time. The major challenge faced by a quality assurance system applied to small series production facilities is to guarantee the needed quality level already at the first run, and therefore, the quality assurance system has to adapt itself constantly to the new manufacturing conditions. The small series production culture requires a change of paradigms, because its strategies are totally different from mass production. This work discusses the tight inspection requirements of small series production and presents flexible metrology strategies based on optical sensor data fusion techniques, agent-based systems as well as cognitive and self-optimised systems for assuring the needed quality level of flexible small series. Examples of application scenarios are provided among the automated assembly of solid state lasers and the flexible inspection of automotive headlights.

  13. Effect of applying lactic acid bacteria and propionic acid on fermentation quality and aerobic stability of oats-common vetch mixed silage on the Tibetan plateau.

    PubMed

    Zhang, Jie; Guo, Gang; Chen, Lei; Li, Junfeng; Yuan, Xianjun; Yu, Chengqun; Shimojo, Masataka; Shao, Tao

    2015-06-01

    The objective of this study was to evaluate effects of lactic acid bacteria and propionic acid on the fermentation quality and aerobic stability of oats-common vetch mixed silage by using a small-scale fermentation system on the Tibetan plateau. (i) An inoculant (Lactobacillus plantarum) (L) or (ii) propionic acid (P) or (iii) inoculant + propionic acid (PL) were used as additives. After fermenting for 60 days, silos were opened and the aerobic stability was tested for the following 15 days. The results showed that all silages were well preserved with low pH and NH3 -N, and high lactic acid content and V-scores. L and PL silages showed higher (P < 0.05) lactic acid and crude protein content than the control silage. P silage inhibited lactic acid production. Under aerobic conditions, L silage had similar yeast counts as the control silage (> 10(5) cfu/g fresh matter (FM)); however, it numerically reduced aerobic stability for 6 h. P and PL silages showed fewer yeasts (< 10(5) cfu/g FM) (P < 0.05) and markedly improved the aerobic stability (> 360 h). The result suggested that PL is the best additive as it could not only improved fermentation quality, but also aerobic stability of oats-common vetch mixed silage on the Tibetan plateau. © 2014 Japanese Society of Animal Science.

  14. Fourth High Alpha Conference, volume 1

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1994-01-01

    The goal of the Fourth High Alpha Conference was to focus on the flight validation of high angle-of-attack technologies and provide an in-depth review of the latest high angle-of-attack activities. Areas that were covered include: high angle-of-attack aerodynamics, propulsion and inlet dynamics, thrust vectoring, control laws and handling qualities, tactical utility, and forebody controls.

  15. Fourth High Alpha Conference, volume 3

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1994-01-01

    Thie goal of this conference was to focus on the flight validation of high-angle-of-attack technologies and provide an in-depth review of the latest high-angle-of-attack activities. Areas covered include: (1) high-angle-of-attack aerodynamics; (2) propulsion and inlet dynamics; (3) thrust vectoring; (4) control laws and handling qualities; (5) tactical utility; and (6) forebody controls.

  16. Studies on Batch Production of Bacterial Concentrates from Mixed Species Lactic Starters

    PubMed Central

    Pettersson, H. E.

    1975-01-01

    Optimum growth conditions for mixed species starter FDs 0172 at constant pH in skim milk, whey, and tryptone medium were investigated. Growth rate and maximum population were optimal at 30 C. pH values between 5.5 and 7.0 did not influence the growth rate and maximum population obtainable. Lactic acid-producing activity declined rapidly after reaching the end of the exponential growth phase. The bacterial balance was found to be influenced by the growth parameters: media, pH, temperature, and neutralizer. Skim milk or whey medium at 25 C, pH 6.5, and neutralized with 20% (vol/vol) NH4OH kept the bacterial balance almost constant throughout the cultivation. Grown in tryptone medium at constant pH, the changes in bacterial balance and other metabolic activities were striking compared to the other two media tested. The effect of lactate as an inhibitor was found to be complex, changing with the growth conditions. Concentrates made from mixed species starters FDs 0172, FD 0570, CH 0170, CHs 0170, and T 27 were comparable to controls when cultivated at the optimum conditions found and thereafter centrifuged. Aroma production, proteolytic activity, and CO2 production did not change significantly compared to controls when cultivated at optimum conditions in skim milk or whey medium. PMID:16350009

  17. Biomass and lipid production of Chlorella protothecoides under heterotrophic cultivation on a mixed waste substrate of brewer fermentation and crude glycerol.

    PubMed

    Feng, Xiaoyu; Walker, Terry H; Bridges, William C; Thornton, Charles; Gopalakrishnan, Karthik

    2014-08-01

    Biomass and lipid accumulation of heterotrophic microalgae Chlorella protothecoides by supplying mixed waste substrate of brewer fermentation and crude glycerol were investigated. The biomass concentrations of the old and the new C. protothecoides strains on day 6 reached 14.07 and 12.73 g/L, respectively, which were comparable to those in basal medium with supplement of glucose and yeast extract (BM-GY) (14.47 g/L for old strains and 11.43 g/L for new strains) (P>0.05). Approximately 81.5% of total organic carbon and 65.1% of total nitrogen in the mixed waste were effectively removed. The accumulated lipid productivities of the old and the new C. protothecoides strains in BM-GY were 2.07 and 1.61 g/L/day, respectively, whereas in the mixed waste, lipid productivities could reach 2.12 and 1.81 g/L/day, respectively. Our result highlights a new approach of mixing carbon-rich and nitrogen-rich wastes as economical and practical alternative substrates for biofuel production. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. Capacitive mixing with electrodes of the same kind for energy production from salinity differences

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Marino, M.; Kozynchenko, O.; Tennison, S.; Brogioli, D.

    2016-03-01

    The capacitive mixing technique is aimed at producing renewable energy from salinity differences, for example between sea and river water. The technique makes use of two electrodes that modify their potential in opposite directions when the concentration of the solution in which they are immersed is changed, as a consequence of the dynamics of the electric double layer which forms in the ionic solution. Unfortunately, it is difficult to find two electrodes presenting both optimal performances and opposite potential variations. In order to overcome this problem, we present here a cell scheme with electrodes of the same kind (and thus identical dependence of potential on concentration) which can be operated with a CapMix cycle; it is based on a concentration cell with identical electrodes dipped into two compartments separated by a non-perm-selective porous diaphragm. Thanks to the cyclic operation, the actual cell voltage rise and the power production are close to the values obtained with the traditional scheme, or even higher, depending on the features of the ion transport in the liquid junction region. We present an experimental demonstration of the working principles and we study the power production and energy efficiency in the light of the theory of ion transport in fluids. We show that our technique is competitive with respect to the other CapMix techniques, with the relevant advantage that we make use of only one kind of electrode.

  19. Capacitive mixing with electrodes of the same kind for energy production from salinity differences.

    PubMed

    Marino, M; Kozynchenko, O; Tennison, S; Brogioli, D

    2016-03-23

    The capacitive mixing technique is aimed at producing renewable energy from salinity differences, for example between sea and river water. The technique makes use of two electrodes that modify their potential in opposite directions when the concentration of the solution in which they are immersed is changed, as a consequence of the dynamics of the electric double layer which forms in the ionic solution. Unfortunately, it is difficult to find two electrodes presenting both optimal performances and opposite potential variations. In order to overcome this problem, we present here a cell scheme with electrodes of the same kind (and thus identical dependence of potential on concentration) which can be operated with a CapMix cycle; it is based on a concentration cell with identical electrodes dipped into two compartments separated by a non-perm-selective porous diaphragm. Thanks to the cyclic operation, the actual cell voltage rise and the power production are close to the values obtained with the traditional scheme, or even higher, depending on the features of the ion transport in the liquid junction region. We present an experimental demonstration of the working principles and we study the power production and energy efficiency in the light of the theory of ion transport in fluids. We show that our technique is competitive with respect to the other CapMix techniques, with the relevant advantage that we make use of only one kind of electrode.

  20. Building quality into medical product software design.

    PubMed

    Mallory, S R

    1993-01-01

    The software engineering and quality assurance disciplines are a requisite to the design of safe and effective software-based medical devices. It is in the areas of software methodology and process that the most beneficial application of these disciplines to software development can be made. Software is a product of complex operations and methodologies and is not amenable to the traditional electromechanical quality assurance processes. Software quality must be built in by the developers, with the software verification and validation engineers acting as the independent instruments for ensuring compliance with performance objectives and with development and maintenance standards. The implementation of a software quality assurance program is a complex process involving management support, organizational changes, and new skill sets, but the benefits are profound. Its rewards provide safe, reliable, cost-effective, maintainable, and manageable software, which may significantly speed the regulatory review process and therefore potentially shorten the overall time to market. The use of a trial project can greatly facilitate the learning process associated with the first-time application of a software quality assurance program.

  1. PREFACE: Nanosafe2010: International Conference on Safe Production and Use of Nanomaterials

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sentein, Carole; Schuster, Frédéric; Tardif, François

    2011-07-01

    Conference logo The second edition of the international conference on the "Safe production and use of nanomaterials" - NanoSafe2010 - was held between 16-18 November at the Maison Minatec congress center located in Grenoble, France. As is recognised, the rapidly developing field of nanotechnologies presents many opportunities and benefits for new materials with significantly improved properties as well as revolutionary applications in the fields of energy, environment, medicine, etc. However, the potential impact of these new materials on human health and the environment is viewed with apprehension. All the security aspects have to be solved in order to reach an acceptable level of risk. The new nano industry can only develop dynamically if these legitimate concerns are satisfactory allayed. Initiated within the framework of the Integrated European project NanoSafe2 and funded by the European Commission under FP6 programs, this biennial event was organized by the French Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique (CEA). NanoSafe2010 had broad international participation from 30 countries representing 4 continents, with registered delegates numbering over 300. The scientific program involved the presentation and discussion of 175 papers, classified as 13 plenary lectures, 117 oral presentations and 45 posters. The conference attracted many of the best known leading scientists and specialists from almost all of the different fields of expertise covering nanosafety issues: Exposure, Characterisation, Detection, Monitoring, Life cycle, Toxicology, Environmental impact, Personal protection, Secure industrial production, Safety parameter evaluation, Standardization, Regulation, and Education. An exhibition took place in parallel with the conference where 16 exhibitors presented the commercial equipment available today in relation to safety during the production or the use of nanomaterials. We believe that this conference, with the above topics, has provided a forum where the many

  2. Natural antioxidants as food and feed additives to promote health benefits and quality of meat products: A review.

    PubMed

    Jiang, Jiang; Xiong, Youling L

    2016-10-01

    Fresh and processed meats offer numerous nutritional and health benefits and provide unique eating satisfaction in the lifestyle of the modern society. However, consumption of red meat including processed products is subjected to increasing scrutiny due to the health risks associated with cytotoxins that potentially could be generated during meat preparation. Evidence from recent studies suggests free radical pathways as a plausible mechanism for toxin formation, and antioxidants have shown promise to mitigate process-generated chemical hazards. The present review discusses the involvements of lipid and protein oxidation in meat quality, nutrition, safety, and organoleptic properties; animal production and meat processing strategies which incorporate natural antioxidants to enhance the nutritional and health benefits of meat; and the application of mixed or purified natural antioxidants to eliminate or minimize the formation of carcinogens for chemical safety of cooked and processed meats. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  3. Redox mediators modify end product distribution in biomass fermentations by mixed ruminal microbes in vitro

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    The fermentation system of mixed ruminal bacteria is capable of generating large amounts of short-chain volatile fatty acids (VFA) via the carboxylate platform in vitro. These VFAs are subject to elongation to larger, more energy-dense products through reverse beta-oxidation. This study examined the...

  4. A real time quality control application for animal production by image processing.

    PubMed

    Sungur, Cemil; Özkan, Halil

    2015-11-01

    Standards of hygiene and health are of major importance in food production, and quality control has become obligatory in this field. Thanks to rapidly developing technologies, it is now possible for automatic and safe quality control of food production. For this purpose, image-processing-based quality control systems used in industrial applications are being employed to analyze the quality of food products. In this study, quality control of chicken (Gallus domesticus) eggs was achieved using a real time image-processing technique. In order to execute the quality control processes, a conveying mechanism was used. Eggs passing on a conveyor belt were continuously photographed in real time by cameras located above the belt. The images obtained were processed by various methods and techniques. Using digital instrumentation, the volume of the eggs was measured, broken/cracked eggs were separated and dirty eggs were determined. In accordance with international standards for classifying the quality of eggs, the class of separated eggs was determined through a fuzzy implication model. According to tests carried out on thousands of eggs, a quality control process with an accuracy of 98% was possible. © 2014 Society of Chemical Industry.

  5. Microbiological quality and safety assessment of lettuce production in Brazil.

    PubMed

    Ceuppens, Siele; Hessel, Claudia Titze; de Quadros Rodrigues, Rochele; Bartz, Sabrina; Tondo, Eduardo César; Uyttendaele, Mieke

    2014-07-02

    The microbiological quality and safety of lettuce during primary production in Brazil were determined by enumeration of hygiene indicators Escherichia coli, coliforms and enterococci and detection of enteric pathogens Salmonella and E. coli O157:H7 in organic fertilizers, soil, irrigation water, lettuce crops, harvest boxes and worker's hands taken from six different lettuce farms throughout the crop growth cycle. Generic E. coli was a suitable indicator for the presence of Salmonella and E. coli O157:H7, while coliforms and enterococci were not. Few pathogens were detected: 5 salmonellae and 2 E. coli O157:H7 from 260 samples, of which only one was lettuce and the others were manure, soil and water. Most (5/7) pathogens were isolated from the same farm and all were from organic production. Statistical analysis revealed the following environmental and agro-technical risk factors for increased microbial load and pathogen prevalence in lettuce production: high temperature, flooding of lettuce fields, application of contaminated organic fertilizer, irrigation with water of inferior quality and large distances between the field and toilets. Control of the composting process of organic fertilizers and the irrigation water quality appear most crucial to improve and/or maintain the microbiological quality and safety during the primary production of lettuce. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  6. Partnered Evaluation of a Community Engagement Intervention: Use of a “Kickoff” Conference in a Randomized Trial for Depression Care Improvement in Underserved Communities

    PubMed Central

    Mendel, Peter; Ngo, Victoria K.; Dixon, Elizabeth; Stockdale, Susan; Jones, Felica; Chung, Bowen; Jones, Andrea; Masongsong, Zoe; Khodyakov, Dmitry

    2013-01-01

    Community partnered research and engagement strategies are gaining recognition as innovative approaches to improving healthcare systems and reducing health disparities in underserved communities. These strategies may have particular relevance for mental health interventions in low income, minority communities in which there often is great stigma and silence surrounding conditions such as depression and difficulty in implementing improved access and quality of care. At the same time, there is a relative dearth of evidence on the effectiveness of specific community engagement interventions and on the design, process, and context of these interventions necessary for understanding their implementation and generalizability. This paper evaluates one of a number of community engagement strategies employed in the Community Partners in Care (CPIC) study, the first randomized controlled trial of the role of community engagement in adapting and implementing evidence-based depression care. We specifically describe the unique goals and features of a community engagement “kickoff” conference as used in CPIC and provide evidence on the effectiveness of this type of intervention by analyzing its impact on: 1) stimulating a dialogue, sense of collective efficacy, and opportunities for learning and networking to address depression and depression care in the community, 2) activating interest and participation in CPIC’s randomized trial of two different ways to implement evidence-based quality improvement (QI) programs for depression across diverse community agencies, and 3) introducing evidence-based toolkits and collaborative care models to potential participants in both intervention conditions and other community members. We evaluated the effectiveness of the conference through a community-partnered process in which both community and academic project members were involved in study design, data collection and analysis. Data sources include participant conference evaluation

  7. Liposomal Drug Product Development and Quality: Current US Experience and Perspective.

    PubMed

    Kapoor, Mamta; Lee, Sau L; Tyner, Katherine M

    2017-05-01

    Research in the area of liposomes has grown substantially in the past few decades. Liposomes are lipid bilayer structures that can incorporate drug substances to modify the drug's pharmacokinetic profile thereby improving drug delivery. The agency has received over 400 liposomal drug product submissions (excluding combination therapies), and there are currently eight approved liposomal drug products on the US market. In order to identify the pain points in development and manufacturing of liposomal drug products, a retrospective analysis was performed from a quality perspective on submissions for new and generic liposomal drug products. General analysis on liposomal drug product submissions was also performed. Results indicated that 96% of the submissions were Investigational New Drug (IND) applications, 3% were New Drug Applications (NDAs), and the remaining 1% was Abbreviated New Drug Applications (ANDAs). Doxorubicin hydrochloride was the most commonly used drug substance incorporated into the liposomes (31%). The majority of the liposomal products were administered via intravenous route (84%) with cancer (various types) being the most common indication (63%). From a quality perspective, major challenges during the development of liposomal drug products included identification and (appropriate) characterization of critical quality attributes of liposomal drug products and suitable control strategies during product development. By focusing on these areas, a faster and more efficient development of liposomal drug products may be achieved. Additionally, in this way, the drug review process for such products can be streamlined.

  8. 76 FR 64083 - Reliability Technical Conference; Notice of Technical Conference

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-10-17

    ... Technical Conference; Notice of Technical Conference Take notice that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will hold a Technical Conference on Tuesday, November 29, 2011, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. and... System. The conference will explore the progress made on the priorities for addressing risks to...

  9. One-pot strategy for on-site enzyme production, biomass hydrolysis, and ethanol production using the whole solid-state fermentation medium of mixed filamentous fungi.

    PubMed

    Maehara, Larissa; Pereira, Sandra C; Silva, Adilson J; Farinas, Cristiane S

    2018-02-01

    The efficient use of renewable lignocellulosic feedstocks to obtain biofuels and other bioproducts is a key requirement for a sustainable biobased economy. This requires novel and effective strategies to reduce the cost contribution of the cellulolytic enzymatic cocktails needed to convert the carbohydrates into simple sugars, in order to make large-scale commercial processes economically competitive. Here, we propose the use of the whole solid-state fermentation (SSF) medium of mixed filamentous fungi as an integrated one-pot strategy for on-site enzyme production, biomass hydrolysis, and ethanol production. Ten different individual and mixed cultivations of commonly used industrial filamentous fungi (Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus oryzae, Trichoderma harzianum, and Trichoderma reesei) were performed under SSF and the whole media (without the extraction step) were used in the hydrolysis of pretreated sugarcane bagasse. The cocultivation of T. reesei with A. oryzae increased the amount of glucose released by around 50%, compared with individual cultivations. The release of glucose and reducing sugars achieved using the whole SSF medium was around 3-fold higher than obtained with the enzyme extract. The addition of soybean protein (0.5% w/w) during the hydrolysis reaction further significantly improved the saccharification performance by blocking the lignin and avoiding unproductive adsorption of enzymes. The results of the alcoholic fermentation validated the overall integrated process, with a volumetric ethanol productivity of 4.77 g/L.h, representing 83.5% of the theoretical yield. These findings demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed one-pot integrated strategy using the whole SSF medium of mixed filamentous fungi for on-site enzymes production, biomass hydrolysis, and ethanol production. © 2018 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 2018. © 2018 American Institute of Chemical Engineers.

  10. Engineering Post-Graduate Programmes: A Quality and Productivity Analysis

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Soares de Mello, Joao Carlos C. B.; Gomes, Eliane Goncalves; Meza, Lidia Angulo; Soares de Mello, Maria Helena C.; Soares de Mello, Adelino Jose R.

    2006-01-01

    Post-graduate courses are periodically evaluated in accordance with not always very clear criteria by CAPES (Co-ordinating Committee for Teaching Staff Improvement). These criteria try to measure, among other things, academic productivity (including quantity and quality of scientific production), number of classes given by teachers, time to…

  11. Conference on Gender-specific Research in Emergency Care: An Executive Summary

    PubMed Central

    Safdar, Basmah; Greenberg, Marna Rayl

    2015-01-01

    With the goal of reducing inequalities in patient care, the 2014 Academic Emergency Medicine (AEM) consensus conference, “Gender-Specific Research in Emergency Care: Investigate, Understand, and Translate How Gender Affects Patient Outcomes,” convened a diverse group of researchers, clinicians, health care providers, patients, and representatives of federal agencies and policy-makers in Dallas, Texas, in May 2014. The executive and steering committees identified seven clinical domains as key to gender-specific emergency care: cardiovascular, neurological, trauma/injury, substance abuse, pain, mental health, and diagnostic imaging. The main aims of the conference were to: 1) summarize and consolidate current data related to sex-and gender-specific research for acute care and identify critical gender-related gaps in knowledge to inform an EM research agenda; 2) create a consensus-driven research agenda that advances sex- and gender-specific research in the prevention, diagnosis, and management of acute diseases and identify strategies to investigate them; and 3) build a multinational interdisciplinary consortium to disseminate and study the sex and gender medicine of acute conditions. Over a 2-year period, this collaborative network of stakeholders identified key areas where sex- and gender-specific research is most likely to improve clinical care and ultimately patient outcomes. The iterative consensus process culminated in a daylong conference on May 13, 2014, with a total of 133 registrants, with the majority being between ages 31 and 50 years (57%), females (71%), and whites (79%). Content experts led the consensus-building workshops at the conference and used the nominal group technique to consolidate consensus recommendations for priority research. In addition, panel sessions addressed funding mechanisms for gender-specific research as well as gender-specific regulatory challenges to product development and approval. This special issue of AEM reports the

  12. Effects of Saccharomyces cerevisiae fermentation product on in vitro fermentation and microbial communities of low-quality forages and mixed diets.

    PubMed

    Mao, Hui-ling; Mao, Hua-long; Wang, J K; Liu, J X; Yoon, I

    2013-07-01

    Two experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of a Saccharomyces cerevisiae fermentation product (XP, Diamond V, Cedar Rapids, IA) on in vitro ruminal fermentation of single forage and mixed diets. In Exp. 1, an in vitro test was used to determine the effects of various concentrations (0, 1, 2, and 3 g/L) of XP on ruminal fermentation of the major forage sources of China (rice straw, RS; corn stover, CS; corn silage without grain, CSNG; and corn silage with grain, CSG). Total VFA reached a peak at 1 g/L XP for RS, CSNG, and CSG and increased linearly (P < 0.01) for CS. The molar proportion of acetate decreased and propionate increased linearly (P < 0.01) with an increasing amount of XP for RS, CS, and CSNG. Microbial protein (MCP) increased linearly (P < 0.01) with an increasing level of XP for RS, and it reached peak values at 1 and 2 g/L XP for CSG and CSNG, respectively. Fungi population was increased (P < 0.05) with 1 g/L XP for all forages except CSNG. The population of Ruminococcus flavefaciens increased (P < 0.05) at 1 or 2 g/L XP for RS, CSNG, and CSG. In Exp. 2, the effects of 3 concentrations of XP (0, 1, and 2 g/L) were tested on in vitro ruminal fermentation of 3 mixed diets with various ingredient combinations: 1) CSC (corn:soybean meal:corn stover = 33:22:45), 2) CSCC (corn:soybean meal:corn stover:corn silage = 33:22:22.5:22.5), and 3) CSCCA (corn:soybean meal:corn stover:corn silage:alfalfa = 33:22:19:21:5). Total VFA concentrations were influenced by diets (P < 0.01) and were enhanced linearly by increasing concentrations of XP (P < 0.01). The molar proportion of acetate was reduced (P < 0.01), but the propionate proportion was enhanced with increasing concentrations of XP (P < 0.01). Ammonia N was decreased and MCP was increased by the addition of XP (linear, P < 0.01; quadratic, P < 0.05). The fungi population was greater with XP addition (quadratic, P < 0.01). The percentage of R. albus was affected by diets (P < 0.01), the level of

  13. The legal framework governing the quality of (traditional) herbal medicinal products in the European Union.

    PubMed

    Kroes, Burt H

    2014-12-02

    In the European Union a complex regulatory framework is in place for the regulation of (traditional) herbal medicinal products. It is based on the principle that a marketing authorisation granted by the competent authorities is required for placing medicinal products on the market. The requirements and procedures for acquiring such a marketing authorisation are laid down in regulations, directives and scientific guidelines. This paper gives an overview of the quality requirements for (traditional) herbal medicinal products that are contained in European pharmaceutical legislation. Pharmaceutical quality of medicinal product is the basis for ensuring safe and effective medicines. The basic principles governing the assurance of the quality of medicinal products in the European Union are primarily defined in the amended Directive 2001/83/EC and Directive 2003/63/EC. Quality requirements of herbal medicinal products are also laid down in scientific guidelines. Scientific guidelines provide a basis for practical harmonisation of how the competent authorities of EU Member States interpret and apply the detailed requirements for the demonstration of quality laid down in regulations and directives. Detailed quality requirements for herbal medicinal products on the European market are contained in European Union (EU) pharmaceutical legislation. They include a system of manufacturing authorisations which ensures that all herbal medicinal products on the European market are manufactured/imported only by authorised manufacturers, whose activities are regularly inspected by the competent authorities. Additionally, as starting materials only active substances are allowed which have been manufactured in accordance with the GMP for starting materials as adopted by the Community. The European regulatory framework encompasses specific requirements for herbal medicinal products. These requirements are independent from the legal status. Thus, the same quality standards equally apply

  14. Study of the pyrolysis of sludge and sludge/disposal filter cake mix for the production of value added products.

    PubMed

    Velghe, Inge; Carleer, Robert; Yperman, Jan; Schreurs, Sonja

    2013-04-01

    Slow and fast pyrolysis of sludge and sludge/disposal filter cake (FC) mix are performed to investigate the liquid and solid products for their use as value added products. The obtained slow pyrolysis liquid products separate in an oil, a water rich fraction and a valuable crystalline solid 5,5-dimethyl hydantoin. During fast pyrolysis, mainly an oil fraction is formed. Aliphatic acids and amides present in the water rich fractions can be considered as value added products and could be purified. The oil fractions have properties which make them promising as fuel (25-35 MJ/kg, 14-20 wt% water content, 0.2-0.6 O/C value), but upgrading is necessary. Sludge/FC oils have a lower calorific value, due to evaporation of alcohols present in FC. ICP-AES analyses reveal that almost none of the metals present in sludge or sludge/FC are transferred towards the liquid fractions. The metals are enriched in the solid fractions. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Clinical review: Canadian National Advisory Committee on Blood and Blood Products - Massive Transfusion Consensus Conference 2011: report of the panel

    PubMed Central

    2011-01-01

    In June 2011 the Canadian National Advisory Committee on Blood and Blood Products sponsored an international consensus conference on transfusion and trauma. A panel of 10 experts and two external advisors reviewed the current medical literature and information presented at the conference by invited international speakers and attendees. The Consensus Panel addressed six specific questions on the topic of blood transfusion in trauma. The questions focused on: ratio-based blood resuscitation in trauma patients; the impact of survivorship bias in current research conclusions; the value of nonplasma coagulation products; the role of protocols for delivery of urgent transfusion; the merits of traditional laboratory monitoring compared with measures of clot viscoelasticity; and opportunities for future research. Key findings include a lack of evidence to support the use of 1:1:1 blood component ratios as the standard of care, the importance of early use of tranexamic acid, the expected value of an organized response plan, and the recommendation for an integrated approach that includes antifibrinolytics, rapid release of red blood cells, and a foundation ratio of blood components adjusted by results from either traditional coagulation tests or clot viscoelasticity or both. The present report is intended to provide guidance to practitioners, hospitals, and policy-makers. PMID:22188866

  16. Influence of Customer Quality Perception on the Effectiveness of Commercial Stimuli for Electronic Products.

    PubMed

    Garrido-Morgado, Álvaro; González-Benito, Óscar; Martos-Partal, Mercedes

    2016-01-01

    Creating and maintaining customer loyalty are strategic requirements for modern business. In the current competitive context, product quality, and brand experience are crucial in building and maintaining customer loyalty. Consumer loyalty, which may be classified into cognitive loyalty and affective loyalty, is related to customers' quality perception. Cue utilization theory distinguishes two dimensions for perceived quality, extrinsic quality-linked to the brand-and intrinsic quality-related with internal product characteristics. We propose that (i) cognitive loyalty is more influenced by intrinsic product quality whereas extrinsic product quality (brand name) is more salient for affective loyalty and, (ii) different commercial stimuli have a differential effectiveness on intrinsic and extrinsic perceived quality. In fact, in this study, we analyze how perceived quality dimensions may influence the effectiveness of two different commercial stimuli: displays and advertising flyers. While displays work within the point of sale under time-constrained conditions where consumers are more likely to use heuristics to simplify their decisions, advertising flyers work outside of the point of sale under low time-constrained conditions, and therefore favor a more reasoned purchase decision where systematic processing will be more likely. We analyze the role of quality perception in determining the effectiveness of both these commercial stimuli for selling products that induce high purchase involvement and perceived risk. The empirical analysis focuses on computer products sold by one of Europe's largest computer retailers and it combines scanner, observational, and survey data. The results show that both dimensions of quality perceptions moderate the influence of displays and advertising flyers on sales, but their impact is different on each commercial stimuli. Extrinsic quality perception increases to a greater extent the effect of displays due to the use of a brand name

  17. St John's wort (Hypericum perforatum) products - an assessment of their authenticity and quality.

    PubMed

    Booker, Anthony; Agapouda, Anastasia; Frommenwiler, Débora A; Scotti, Francesca; Reich, Eike; Heinrich, Michael

    2018-02-01

    St John's wort products (Hypericum perforatum L.) are widely available for sale in many countries including the UK via the internet. In the UK, these products are required to hold either a marketing authorisation or Traditional herbal registration (THR) to be sold legally. The THR and other regulatory schemes help to ensure product safety and quality providing an example of best practice but there is a risk if both regulated and un-regulated products continue to be available to consumers. The project is embedded in a larger study aiming to investigate the quality of different herbal medicinal products along diverse value chains. Here we focus on a comparison of the quality of the finished products and assess phytochemical variation between registered products (THRs) and products obtained from the market without any registration. 47 commercial products (granulated powders and extracts) were sourced from different suppliers. We analysed these samples using high performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC) and 1 H NMR spectroscopy coupled with multi-variate analysis software following a method previously developed by our group. The consistency of the products varies significantly. Adulteration of the products (36%), possibly with other Hypericum species obtained from China or use of chemically distinct H. perforatum cultivars or chemotypes, and adulteration of the products (19%) with food dyes (tartrazine, amaranth, brilliant blue, sunset yellow) were the principle findings of this study. There is significant compositional variation among commercial finished products and two main causative quality problems were identified as adulteration by incorrect species or adulteration with food dyes. Generally, food supplements and unlicensed products were found to be of poorer quality than the regulated ones including THRs. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

  18. Feasibility of peer assessment and clinical audit to self-regulate the quality of physiotherapy services: a mixed methods study.

    PubMed

    Maas, Marjo J M; Nijhuis-van der Sanden, Maria W G; Driehuis, Femke; Heerkens, Yvonne F; van der Vleuten, Cees P M; van der Wees, Philip J

    2017-02-10

    To evaluate the feasibility of a quality improvement programme aimed to enhance the client-centeredness, effectiveness and transparency of physiotherapy services by addressing three feasibility domains: (1) acceptability of the programme design, (2) appropriateness of the implementation strategy and (3) impact on quality improvement. Mixed methods study. 64 physiotherapists working in primary care, organised in a network of communities of practice in the Netherlands. The programme contained: (1) two cycles of online self-assessment and peer assessment (PA) of clinical performance using client records and video-recordings of client communication followed by face-to-face group discussions, and (2) clinical audit assessing organisational performance. Assessment was based on predefined performance indicators which could be scored on a 5-point Likert scale. Discussions addressed performance standards and scoring differences. All feasibility domains were evaluated qualitatively with two focus groups and 10 in-depth interviews. In addition, we evaluated the impact on quality improvement quantitatively by comparing self-assessment and PA scores in cycles 1 and 2. We identified critical success features relevant to programme development and implementation, such as clarifying expectations at baseline, training in PA skills, prolonged engagement with video-assessment and competent group coaches. Self-reported impact on quality improvement included awareness of clinical and organisational performance, improved evidence-based practice and client-centeredness and increased motivation to self-direct quality improvement. Differences between self-scores and peer scores on performance indicators were not significant. Between cycles 1 and 2, scores for record keeping showed significant improvement, however not for client communication. This study demonstrated that bottom-up initiatives to improve healthcare quality can be effective. The results justify ongoing evaluation to inform

  19. Proceedings of the 9th Annual Conference on Manual Control

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1973-01-01

    Papers are reported which were presented at the conference in the areas of displays, ride qualities and handling, driving and psychomotor skills, control, system identification and signal detection, electrophysiological and systems analysis, and modelling.

  20. 6th international conference on biophysics and synchrotron radiation. Program/Abstracts

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Pittroff, Connie; Strasser, Susan Barr

    1999-08-03

    This STI product consists of the Program/Abstracts book that was prepared for the participants in the Sixth International Conference on Biophysics and Synchrotron Radiation that was held August 4-8, 1998, at the Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory. This book contains the full conference program and abstracts of the scientific presentations.

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